


The Reason You Fall, The Moment You Fly

by Chash



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 21:21:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7190855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Bellamy is eight, the village elder tells him his sister might be the Avatar, and he needs to protect her.</p><p>When he's nineteen, he and Octavia find the real Avatar, and it turns out he wants to protect her too. They've got work to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Reason You Fall, The Moment You Fly

**Author's Note:**

  * For [goldenheadfreckledheart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenheadfreckledheart/gifts).



> Okay, giveaway fic for Lexi! I'd say this follows the basic plot of the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but there's heavy emphasis on _basic_ plot. I've ironed out a lot of the complexities of the show, so if you're familiar with canon, be prepared for that.
> 
> Also, enjoy my flailing, wildly inconsistent failures to figure out when I should capitalize Avatar. I know I did!

When Bellamy's sister is three, she starts waterbending, and the village elder sits him down and says, "No one can ever know."

"Why are you telling me?" he demands. He's eight, and he's tired of looking out for his sister. It's only gotten worse since their mother died. He'd rather play with the other kids. There are plenty of other people who can watch Octavia.

"Because your sister is reckless."

"I'm reckless," he mutters, petulant.

To his annoyance, the Elder only smiles. "Only with yourself. Never with us. It's why you'll be a good leader, once you've grown. You know how to value your people. And that is why we trust you with your sister's care."

It perks him up; he _will_ be a good leader. He will. "Why can't anyone know about Octavia? It's just bending." They don't have any benders right now, but they used to. It's not _that_ uncommon.

"Because she's a waterbender in the Eastern Water Tribe, and she's young."

"So?"

"What do you know about the Avatar, Bellamy?"

"I know all about avatars," he says, eager. He's the best at stories; everyone says so. "Five hundred years ago, Avatar Kihana made the great mountains in the north, to keep warring factions of fire benders apart."

The Elder's smile is fond, but a little tired. "I meant the most recent Avatar."

He blinks. "Avatars aren't real."

"They are. The last one was an airbender, and she disappeared almost one hundred years ago."

"Disappeared?" he asks, curious in spite of himself.

"Yes. One day, she just vanished."

"This sounds like a story," he says, dubious. He's annoyed he doesn't know it, honestly. He thought he knew all the stories.

"There are still some alive who met her, so don't think I made it up. No one knows what happened to her, but there has been no avatar since, so she has not died. But she'd be getting old now. The reincarnation of the Avatar follows a cycle, Bellamy. When one dies, a new one is reborn. The next avatar will be a waterbender. The Fire Nation knows that. That's why they come through every few years, looking for any child who might be the new avatar."

"But if O isn't the avatar, who cares?"

"What if she is?"

Bellamy tries to imagine it, his bratty little sister, the _Avatar_. A legend. He's still not entirely convinced the Avatar is real; people like that, heroes with great powers, they're in the past. It's all just stories. Tales made up to explain why the world is the way it is, why the sun rises and the moon pulls the tides.

But he's never going to let the Fire Nation hurt his sister.

"We'll be careful," he says. "I promise."

It's hard, of course. He can't exactly tell his sister, because if she knew she could be a legendary chosen one who commands all four elements, she'd be impossible to live with; just being a waterbender gives her a big enough head. But he can't really object to her wanting to learn how to use it. If he were a bender, he'd want to learn.

When she's ten, he finally sits her down to explain it to her, why she should learn to use her bending, but they can't tell anyone. And, as he expected, it doesn't really go very well.

"What if I _am_ the Avatar, Bell? I have to learn how to waterbend, and bend everything else! I should be doing _more_ , not less."

"Why do you think we don't have anyone to teach you?" he asks. "We have to be _careful_ , O. If you're the Avatar, we'll figure it out. But _we're_ going to figure it out. We don't need the Fire Nation to help us."

Her jaw works, but she doesn't argue. She's careful with her bending, not as careful as he thinks she should be, but more than she was before she knew _why_ he wanted her to keep it quiet. He does his best to help her learn the waterbending, but he's no teacher, not without bending himself, and there's no one else in their village. He'll catch her sometimes, trying to move the earth or the fire, but if she is the Avatar, she hasn't figured it out yet.

Part of him wants it to be her; most of him hopes it's not. Most of him thinks there is no Avatar, and it's only a matter of time before the Fire Nation tramples everyone under their heels.

And then, he's nineteen, and he and Octavia find the real Avatar.

*

It's not like he's _looking_ for the Avatar. Octavia is fifteen, and he's pretty sure if she was the Avatar, she would have showed some ability to bend something else by now, but at the same time, it's not like he _knows_. When it comes down to it, he doesn't know the first thing about any of it.

All they're doing is trying to catch some dinner, Bellamy with his spear and Octavia with her bending. If he's honest, he's in a foul mood about it, because his sister can get more fish than he can now, and there's a part of him that hates it. He's supposed to take care of her. Of their people.

He doesn't know quite how the argument starts. That's been happening more and more, Octavia sniping at him, him sniping back, and suddenly they're fighting, shouting at each other as Octavia makes the ocean choppy and hard. He tries to calm her down before the boat breaks, but it's too late, and they scramble onto the driftwood island out of a lack of anywhere else to go. It's decent-sized, as these things go, a collection of downed branches, flotsam and jetsam, the debris of the sea. The center, in particular catches his eye, a tall tangle that feels oddly--protective. Like it's keeping something in, or keeping the world out.

"I can't believe you did that," O says, pulling his attention back to her.

"I can't believe I did that either," he says, matching her dark expression. "It's almost like I didn't."

"The world _needs_ the Avatar, Bell! If it's me--"

"If it's you, you'd be able to bend the fire when you try," he snaps, and the hurt that flashes across her face is enough to make him regret it. He's never mentioned that he's noticed her trying to work the other elements.

"You want to see how good I am?" she asks, and lashes out. He dodges the sudden burst of power, a great wave with an edge that looks like it would slice like a blade, but when the branches behind them split open, he still goes for his sister, shielding her. His whole life is protecting her; just because hers isn't protecting him, it doesn't mean he can stop.

They both stare as the driftwood crumbles, light pouring out of it like nothing he's ever seen, like an egg cracking, huge and golden. It looks like the shell was made of ice, thick and solid, more than he's ever seen in his life.

"Maybe you are the Avatar," he says, voice hoarse.

"Just water," she says. She's staring too, as hard as he is. He can see something in the center of the light, some vague outline of--

He's scrambling up before he's quite realized it, and when the girl falls, he manages to catch her before she hits any of the jagged edges of wood. He stares for a minute after that, because not only was he not expecting her, but she's like no one he's ever seen. Her skin is paler than even Octavia's, and Octavia's father was a sailor from the Earth Kingdom.

"Bell?" Octavia asks, hesitant.

"It's a girl," he says. She has tattoos on her forehead, blue arrows, and she's dressed in strange clothing. He'd put her at around Octavia's age, maybe a year or two older. Her lips are slightly parted, but she's breathing, like she was just sleeping in a cage of ice and branches.

Like someone from a story.

"I can tell it's a girl," says Octavia. "What's she--"

"I don't know." She's so _pale_ ; he's worried she'll catch fire in the sun, if it gets much later in the day. "Can you move this thing?"

"What?"

"The island. You're a waterbender, right? So get the water to help us."

There's a strange noise, like a great creaking, and Bellamy tugs the girl with him as he scrambles closer to Octavia, in case the island is about to break apart. But instead there's a--creature. Some great beast coming out of the driftwood.

"Jasper," someone says, and when he looks down, the girl is watching him. Her eyes are the color of the sea in the shallows.

"What?" he manages. The girl uses his leg to steady herself as she stands, which is a terrible idea. Islands like these are less islands than loosely formed collections of garbage; it's better to stay low and hold on. "Watch out, you--" He reaches out as the log shifts beneath her, but she doesn't fall.

She jumps, light and easy, lands on a plank that can't possibly hold her weight. It dips and bobs under, but she's already gone, bouncing across the water toward the remains of the--cage? Refuge? Whatever it was she came from.

"Bell," says Octavia, soft. "I think she's an airbender."

"No she's not, there are no airbenders," he says, unable to take his eyes off her. He's not convinced O's wrong, despite everything. She's certainly _something_.

"Then what's she doing?"

"Acrobat?"

"Why was she in there?"

"Why would an airbender be in there?"

"Do you guys need a ride?" the girl asks, and both of them snap their focus back to her.

"Do you have a ride?" Bellamy asks, just as some giant-- _thing_ comes out of the ruins. He's never seen anything like it, this big, hairy monster, the size of a small whale. The creaking is it pushing through the wood as it swims toward Clarke.

The girl smirks. "This is Jasper. My sky bison."

"Your what," Bellamy says, flat.

"Sky bison."

"That's not a thing."

"Then what is it?" asks the girl, bright.

"Don't listen to him, we want a ride," says Octavia. "Are you an airbender?"

"Yeah. Why?"

It's her casualness that really gets Bellamy, the easy nonchalance that's hard to fake. It's not just that she claims to be an airbender; it's that she doesn't seem to realize how extraordinary that is. It's like she's confirming that she's female, or she isn't from the island, something obvious and ordinary.

"How?" asks O.

"How what?"

"How are you an airbender?"

"I've always been an airbender." She brings the thing--bison?--up next to them. It's very hairy; it must be hot. It turns its head to regard Bellamy, and he tries not to flinch. It could eat him, it if it wanted to. it doesn't look like a carnivore, but, honestly, it doesn't look like anything he's ever seen. "You guys are Water Tribe, right?"

"Yeah," says Bellamy. 

"Eastern Islands?" she asks, and he nods. "Okay, I can take you back home." And then she frowns, looking around. "How did you even get here?"

"How did _we_ get here?" Bellamy asks, because she came out of a fucking pile of wood, and she's acting like they're the weird ones. 

But Octavia is already climbing onto the creature. "We were fishing, our boat got destroyed. Are you coming, Bell?"

"Beats being stuck on a log," he mutters, and lets the strange girl pull him up. "We don't even know your name," he adds.

"Clarke," she says. "I'm Clarke."

*

"So, what were you doing exactly?" Bellamy asks. Clarke spent a while trying to get the bison to fly, because that sounds real, but she finally gave up and decided that he was tired from--well, that's what he wants to find out.

"There was a storm," says Clarke, not looking at him. "We got caught in it, and I pulled up some--defenses. I guess I was out for a while."

Bellamy snorts, and Octavia elbows him. "Be _sensitive_ , Bell."

"Sensitive?" asks Clarke, sharp. She does glance over her shoulder now, giving him a hard look. "Just tell me."

"Are you really an airbender?"

She huffs and stands, pulling the stick off her back. He'd assumed it was a weapon of some kind, but when she shakes it, fans come out instead of blades, and he realizes it's a glider.

"Not really an answer," he says, but then she looks around, checks the air, and jumps off the bison.

Octavia isn't much of a waterbender, honestly; whatever she did today was the most impressive thing he's ever seen from her, and that was more temper than skill. Seeing Clarke catch the wind and actually _fly_ \--or at least glide--is unreal, and for the first time in his life, Bellamy wishes he was a bender himself. It never bothered him before; it was a skill he didn't have, but he has plenty of skills his sister doesn't.

It never occurred to him, how much a real bender could _do_.

Octavia squeals in delight as Clarke loops a few times and then lands.

"Could I do that?" Octavia asks him.

"You're an airbender?" Clarke asks, sounding excited. "From what temple?"

"No, but--" She worries her lip, and Bellamy doesn't get a chance to stop her before she leans in and says, "I might be the Avatar."

"She's not," Bellamy says, at the same time Clarke says, "You're not."

"How do you know?" Octavia demands. "There hasn't been an Avatar for a hundred years, and the next one is going to be a water bender. It could be me."

Bellamy's watching Clarke, so he sees the way she goes even paler, the way her entire face falls. "What?"

"No airbenders either," he says, for good measure. To get it all over with at once. "They got wiped out after the Avatar disappeared."

"Wiped out," she repeats, soft.

"During the war, yeah. "When the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation made their treaty and carved up the world."

"Bell," says Octavia.

"You're not the Avatar, O. But I'm pretty sure she is." When she actually looks _surprised_ , he snorts. "You think some average airbender would end up trapped in some weird ice cocoon for a hundred years?"

"A hundred years," says Clarke, voice hollow.

"Ninety-seven, I think," he says. "If you want to be precise." He wets his lips. "Our village elder really thought O might be the next avatar. The Fire Nation did their best to make sure we didn't have any benders here, so--it seemed possible."

"What did she think happened?"

"You disappeared. I think everyone assumed you were just in hiding somewhere, after the war went bad."

"How badly did it go?" she asks. It's strange, having her eyes on him, unwavering. Her gaze is like nothing he's ever seen. Of course she's the Avatar; she couldn't be anyone else, it feels like. "I know--I know about the treaty. And--" Her voice fails, and he nods.

"The Earth Queen and the Fire Lord agreed to divide up the world, to end the fighting. But the Fire Nation spent twenty years getting their troops together after Fire Lord Dante died, and as soon as that happened, Fire Lord Cage was back to trying to take over the world. And that's how it's been."

"What about the Earth Queen?" Clarke asks, soft. "She'd be--she must be dead."

"Yeah, about twenty years ago," Bellamy says. "She tried to fight for a while, ended up just fortifying the capital at Polis and leaving the smaller villages to fend for themselves."

"They don't bother with us much," Octavia adds. Her voice is off; he somehow hadn't realized she really thought she might be the Avatar until today. He hadn't realized he didn't really believe she could be either. 

"They'd be stupid to bother you," Clarke says, sounding surprised. "Everyone knows better than to take on waterbenders in the islands."

"I'm the only waterbender we have," Octavia admits, soft. "They don't care because we're not a threat."

"The only waterbender? How big is your village?"

"Not big, but--it's pretty bad for all the Eastern tribes," Bellamy says. "Some of them are probably hiding it, like O. Between the wars and the Fire Nation raiding for the Avatar every few years, benders didn't have much of a chance."

Clarke winces; he'd feel bad, but, honestly, she disappeared for a hundred years. It shouldn't surprise her, that things went wrong. Bellamy read about the avatars, whenever he could get books, and it seems weird to him, way too much responsibility for one person, but--the Avatar has the power to make change, to improve the world, and Clarke ended up--

Well, he still doesn't really get how Clarke ended up.

"Can you waterbend?" Octavia asks, perking up. "You can, right?"

She looks even more uncomfortable. "Yes and no. I was learning earthbending, when I--when everything happened."

"And what's everything again?" Bellamy asks.

"The storm," she says. And then, like it really matters to him that he knows, "It was an accident, Bellamy. I didn't mean--I didn't want this to happen. I didn't know it _could_ happen."

"You don't have to justify yourself to me," he says, and she actually snorts. It's not quite a laugh, but it makes him feel a little good about himself. He doesn't want to upset Clarke; he just wants to figure her out.

"If I don't have to justify myself to you, why do you keep asking?"

"Hey, you're the one who was sleeping in a pile of logs," he says. "But I'm just curious. You don't have to answer."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'd let it go," she says, with a roll of her eyes. It's a little weird, joking around with her, but--it feels more natural than not. "Your sister seems happy to just go with it," she adds.

Octavia bites her lip. "I was hoping you could teach me waterbending."

"No, sorry." She looks between the two of them, like she's making up her mind about something. "But I'm going to need to find a teacher. How's the Southern Water Tribe doing?"

"We don't really chat," says Bellamy.

"But that's a place to go, right? It--" Her voice catches. "It sounds like the Avatar has work to do."

It's not hard to think of all the stories he's heard, everything he knows about the great deeds Avatars have done, the miracles they've performed. And it's even harder to not think of his father, his mother, the seemingly endless list of friends and family who have died or been taken for this war.

"Yeah," he says. "We could use you."

*

He's not entirely sure how it happens.

Or, no, that's a lie. He wants to say he doesn't know how it happens, but it's actually very simple: Octavia says she's going to the Southern Tribes with Clarke, so he's going. And, honestly, he's worried about Clarke too, which is stupid. He doesn't even know Clarke, and she's the _Avatar_. It's her job to take care of everyone else.

But he can't help it. The idea of his sister and Clarke flying across the world on their own is just unacceptable. Especially because as soon as everyone finds out the Avatar is _back_ , alive and ready to fight, they're going to be in danger all the time. Bellamy might not be a bender, but he's a decent fighter and fairly resourceful. He can help.

"I'm doing the right thing, right?" he asks the Elder, anyway. Watching Clarke bend chunks of earth for the tribe's children to hit with sticks, he feels selfish, wanting to go with them. He could be here, with his people, or there, with his sister. With this girl he doesn't even _know_.

"Yes," she says, and there's no hesitation at all. He can't help a smile.

"Just like that, huh?"

"I'm not quite old enough to remember what it was like, to have an Avatar," she says. "But my parents were, and my grandparents. The world needs the Avatar, to keep balance. If you can help her, you should."

"Octavia could help her. I could stay here."

"You'll do better," she says, and he ducks his head. The Elder believes in him. She's always believed in him. He still doesn't know what he did to deserve it. He didn't even know, until she told him he needed to watch Octavia, and there's always been a part of him that thought she was "We'll be all right without you. I'm not sure they will."

"Bell'my!" calls Kaen, one of the youngest boys. "Come play!"

"Bellamy!" adds Liana.

"You're saying they'll be fine?" he murmurs to her.

"Yeah, Bellamy, come play!" says Clarke, grinning over her shoulder, and the Elder pats his arm.

"Yes, that's what I'm saying. I think you should go."

So in the morning, he mounts up on Clarke's giant, weird, actually _flying_ bison, settling in on the riding platform Clarke has strapped to its back. As transportation methods go, it's surreal, but not bad. He's only ever been on boats before, and while he expects to be disconcerted by the height, it doesn't bother him at all. He likes being in the air.

He's also expecting to feel a little left out, and that _does_ happen. It's no one's fault; Octavia's never met another bender before, and she's eager to talk to Clarke about it, greedy for anything the Avatar can teach her. And, of course, even though Clarke doesn't know about _water_ bending, she still has a lot of knowledge, a broad understanding of technique. And when Octavia shows her the small things she's learned, Clarke does her best to copy them. It's interesting and a little amazing, watching her try to bend the air and water that make up the clouds, but--he does feel as if they're speaking a language it would be impossible for him to learn. He's happy for them, really, but--it's lonely too.

But then Octavia goes to sleep and it's just him and Clarke at the campfire. She looks at him, her clear eyes steady in the flickering light, and then she says, "Tell me what you know."

"About what?"

"What I need to do. I know you've never left the islands, but--you keep up, don't you? Because you thought Octavia might have to do it."

"As much as I could, yeah." He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Like you said, I've never left the islands. But we get travelers sometimes. O's dad was Earth Kingdom, he stuck around for a few years. Told me stories. That's the real problem. It would be one thing if it was just--the Fire Nation are assholes, but we're all working together to stop it. But the Earth Kingdom--it's even less united than the Water Tribes, honestly. The Eastern Islands are united, even if we're not doing anyone much good. I think the Southern Islands are too. They were last I heard. But the Earth Kingdom--" He picks up a stick and goes to sit next to her, sketching out a rough map. "The big cities are basically independent states, at this point. There's the capital at Polis, and then Tondisi, Delphi--anywhere with walls is taking care of itself, and then the villages are getting raided and pillaged whenever the Fire Nation feels like. Earth Kingdom unity died with Queen Lexa." Honesty compels him to add, "Before her, honestly. But King Aiden didn't even try to keep it, and Queen Ontari's even worse."

She takes the stick and pokes Polis. "Queen Lexa was the one teaching me earthbending," she says, like it's a secret. Maybe it was. "I thought we were--close. Friends."

"And then she made that treaty."

"She acted like it was what I wanted. _Peace_ ," she says, voice going hard. "When she was giving away territory that wasn't her and signing--" Finally, she has to look away, and he can hear tears in her voice. "I knew the Fire Nation hated the airbenders. But I didn't think they'd really--"

"Yeah. I couldn't really believe it either, when I read about it. That they were just--gone. The elders said that's part of why it's so bad. No Avatar, no airbenders. No balance."

She spins a dust ball in the palm of her hand, and it's hard not to be jealous, that she can do that. "I'm not sure I can repair the balance all by myself." And then, to his surprise, she smiles at him. "But I guess that's why I've got you, right?"

Her expression is so open and genuine it nearly knocks him over, and he doesn't have any response to that. He pokes the map with his foot, doesn't look at her.

But he doesn't feel so out of place, after that.

*

It takes about a week before Bellamy gets _excited_ about the whole thing. Octavia's been ecstatic from the beginning, because Octavia's never been happy, being just a girl living on a small island. Even before she found out she might be the Avatar, she chafed against their small home. And he'd never thought he had; he had responsibilities, to his sister and to his people. He would stay, and he would defend their people, and, someday, depending on how many return from the war, he might be the leader of the village.

The part of him that wanted to see the world, that was curious about all the places he read about--he'd always made that part stay quiet. The one time he can remember trying to take something for himself, he was eight, and he decided to blow off his responsibilities and take his boat out to Kumali to see if there were any new books he could trade for.

A storm hit, a typhoon, and he was stuck there for three days; by the time he was home, his mother was dead, his grandfather was bed-ridden, and his sister was going hungry. It was enough to remind him that he couldn't leave, and the lesson stuck. He's never had trouble, not letting himself want things. It's as natural as breathing.

But it's been a week, and the town of El's Reach is having a festival.

"We should go," Clarke says, bouncing a little on her feet. It's the most excited he's ever seen her.

"Why?" he asks.

"Because I want to see what it's like. And we need supplies anyway."

"Do we?"

"Bellamy," Clarke says, but she sounds more amused than upset. "Jasper needs a break. He's not used to this. Also, I'm getting tired of fish, and I _am_ the Avatar. At some point, I need to start getting an idea of what's happening in the world. If I'm going to help. So do you, for that matter." She bites the side of her mouth. "And your sister already took off."

He swears under his breath, looking around. "You didn't stop her?"

"I want to go," she says, and he catches her wrist before she can actually follow Octavia. "What?"

"You don't look like you're from the Earth Kingdom, and you don't look like Water Tribe either." He considers, and then grabs his pack. "Just hold on, okay?" There are plenty of people in the Earth Kingdom with pale skin, and Clarke's a little darker than she was a week ago, from being in the sun so much. But her hair is bright and wavy in a way he doesn't associate with the Earth Kingdom; he's sure there are people here who look more like Clarke, but she stands out.

To his surprise, she says completely still as he gathers her hair up and tucks it into a piece of cloth from his pack. He'd rather she was protesting, or at least saying something, because he's too aware of how close she is, the smell of her--cleaner and brighter than it has any right to be, given the circumstances--and the feel of her soft curls under his fingers.

"Okay," he says, stepping back. His voice comes out husky. "That should draw less attention."

Her smile is soft. "Thanks, Bellamy." To his shock, she offers her arm. "Come on," she adds, when he doesn't take it. "It's a festival. If you don't want to draw attention, act like we're together."

He links his arm in hers, follows her into the town. He hasn't been to a festival in a few years, and never an Earth Kingdom one. And it's impossible to not get excited about it; the stalls are selling all sorts of things he's never seen before, and there are games he's never played. Clarke wins a fish and gives it to a passing child before he can point out they can't keep it, making him smile. Octavia keeps skipping away from them and back, bringing snacks she's obtained from different vendors.

He hadn't known he was tired of fish and whatever fruits they could forage off islands, but apparently he was.

"There are Fire Nation soldiers here," Clarke murmurs, leaning up like she's telling him something private. Which, she is, but--not the same kind of private.

He brushes his nose against her temple before he replies, just as soft, "Yeah, they're everywhere. Not a big enough city to fight them off."

She ducks her head, the picture of maidenly coyness. "I had no idea."

"I tried to tell you."

She pecks him on the cheek. "That's why I wanted to come."

There's a vendor selling maps, and he gets distracted there for so long Clarke leaves him with a fond roll of her eyes and a quick squeeze of his arm. He loves maps in a way he can't quite explain, the way he would have loved books, if he could afford any. The map they're working from now was one he got a sailor to draw for him in a tavern in Kumali; it's serviceable, but he'd love to have something _better_ , if only he could afford it.

He's doing his best to memorize the land masses when he hears a commotion, and maybe he shouldn't assume it's Octavia or Clarke, but--well, he knows his sister, and he's getting to know Clarke. Even if they didn't start the altercation, they'll be there in no time.

"Thanks," he tells the map seller. "I'll be back if I can."

He sees a shoot of flame, which is--really bad. That means guards are involved, and no one is being subtle. At least he's far from the only one going to see what's happening, so it's not like _he's_ drawing attention.

The crowd is gathered around a few Fire Nation soldiers, and the soldiers are gathered around a boy, probably twelve or thirteen, whose pack has split. The contents are expensive enough that he doubts anyone dressed as the boy is could afford them, which makes him a thief, and in the wrong. But the soldiers are toying with him, shooting flame back and forth, making him roll out of the way or be burned. Even if he is a thief, it's the wrong way to deal with it. He should be arrested, not toyed with.

The hem of his shirt catches fire, and Bellamy closes his eyes, because he knows exactly what's coming. He didn't see his sister in the crowd, but he's sure she's here and--there's the gasp and the sound of water splashing.

"Waterbender!" says one of the soldiers, and Bellamy opens his eyes again, finds Octavia, scowling as the soldiers advance on her. The thief boy stares for a second and then realizes his luck, gathers his back and makes his exit. 

He's ducking through the crowd, making his way toward his sister--who _doesn't have enough water_ , she has to know that--when the flames burst out, two columns of fire going straight for her. He pushes past a few people, trying to get to her, but he knows he can't make it.

"O--" he starts. She's standing her ground, stubborn, which is _stupid_ , she can _move_ \--

And then there's a wall of earth in front of her, and the fire hits it and bursts. The earth sinks back and Clarke is by her side, in a fighting stance he's never seen before. Of course, Clarke would know how to fight, it's just strange to think of it. He figured as Avatars went, she was more of a diplomat than a warrior. Octavia looks around, pulls a blob of water from one of the fishing games and holds it in the air like a threat.

"I can't take you guys anywhere," he grumbles, taking his place next to Clarke. "I told you we shouldn't come."

"I told you I wanted to see what it's like," Clarke says, flashing him a smile. "And the food was good."

"Thanks, I feel so much better."

One of the soldiers starts gathering up a flame, and the earth rises up under him, fast, throwing him off and onto a roof. He lands hard, but not hard enough to break anything; if Bellamy were putting money on it, he'd say the man will have a headache and bad bruises, but no lasting damage.

Octavia throws her water at another soldier, and Bellamy realizes he has no idea what to do. He has his axe, but he doesn't really want to kill any of the men; he's never even turned his weapon on another person. He uses it on trees and for hunting, not for combat. He's been training his whole life to defend his home, but he's never had to do it before. And even if these guys are dicks, he's not ready to murder any of them. Trying to engage in hand-to-hand combat seems stupid; he's not good at it, for one, and they're firebenders, for another.

So he dodges out of the way when the flame comes toward him, rolls and manages to get a good kick in at the soldier's knee, hard enough that he staggers. The earth in front of the soldier spikes up, hitting him in the chest, and he falls.

"You're not bad at this," he says.

"I could be worse," she grants. "But I only know a couple--"

The third man, the one Octavia had, has recovered from the blast of water, and when he throws another burst of flame at Bellamy, he can't get out of the way in time. He braces for the lash of flames against his leg, but it doesn't come, and in the deafening silence after he hits the ground, he realizes why.

"Airbender," someone breathes, and then someone else yells, "It's the Avatar!"

"Fuck," he says, dragging himself up. He catches Clarke's eye, and she shrugs, helpless. "We gotta get out of here," he says. "You take your glider, we'll catch up."

"I can--"

"Seriously, don't argue," he says. One of the soldiers is stirring, and Clarke hits him with another burst of earth.

"Fine," she says. She jumps up onto a nearby roof and flashes the crowd a smile. "The Avatar is back!" she calls. "Tell your friends."

Bellamy grabs his sister's arm and tugs her, ignoring the crowds of people trying to talk to them, asking about Clarke, about where she came from, how she learned to airbend.

"Look, we need to leave _before_ more soldiers get here. That's how you can help the Avatar," he finally snaps, and that gets everyone with the program. The crowd parts, and while he hears murmurs, people thanking the stars that the Avatar has returned, telling them to wish her well.

Saying it's going to be different now.

She's waiting, leaning against Jasper's leg, when they get back. Her hair is unbound, and she's toying with the cloth in her hand, clearly nervous.

"Next time, let them set my leg on fire," he says, and she lets out a relieved laugh.

"I like your leg," she says. "And we're the ones who'd have to take care of it." She catches her lip with her teeth, looks genuinely remorseful. "I wasn't planning to do that."

"I know. But I told you it was a bad idea."

"It wasn't," Octavia says, surprisingly fierce. "The Avatar is back. People should know that."

"That too," he admits. "But still. Earthbending is safer."

"I know. I wasn't going to airbend," she says, pulling herself up onto the bison and offering him her hand. "But like I said: I like your leg."

*

"I need to learn to fight."

Octavia is getting fish while he and Clarke go to town to trade for supplies. Clarke's hair is braided back and covered with a hood, but he can't help being nervous. But the supplies would help, and they're all curious to find out if word of the Avatar has spread, and what word. If the Fire Nation is looking for them.

If the Earth Kingdom is. Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if everyone in the world was looking for Clarke.

He'd like to say he doesn't get it, but then he'll see her smile out of the corner of his eye, and his whole body warms. There _is_ something about her. She was worth waiting for.

"I thought you could already fight," she says, sounding surprised.

"It's the wrong kind of fighting," he says. "We were taught how to defend our home, and that's--I don't think we want to be killing people here. I didn't want to kill those soldiers."

"Oh. Yeah." She's quiet for a minute, and then she asks, "Did you ever have to use it?"

"Use what?"

"Your training. Did you have to defend your village?"

"No. It was never--" He feels his jaw clench. "They never really came to wipe us out, just to make sure we had benders. It wasn't worth risking the village, trying to fight them off."

"Yeah," Clarke says, without any trace of judgement in her voice. "I understand that. Especially with--it didn't seem like you had so many warriors."

"No," he says. "Most people leave when they get old enough. Take off to join--we call it the army, but it's more like piracy."

"How old is old enough?"

"Eighteen."

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen. I had Octavia to take care of."

"I don't think you'd be a great soldier anyway," she says, and she still sounds easy. "Maybe a good pirate."

"Why not?"

She flashes him a bright grin. "It's not a bad thing, Bellamy. I've never done that well with soldiers."

"Because you're a brat?" he grumbles.

"They're too rigid. And you'd never take orders you thought were stupid. Not unless you had to."

"I'm pretty sure in the military, you have to," he says, but he knows what she means. He doesn't like answering to people who haven't made him believe their judgement is sound.

"That's what I'm saying," Clarke says, easy. And then she admits, "I don't know that much about fighting," with a duck of her head like she's embarrassed.

"Not without bending," he supplies.

"Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? If I could bend, I'd learn how to fight with that. But I don't, so I need to learn something else."

"I will too," Clarke declares. He raises his eyebrows, and she flushes a little, even as her face remains defiant. "Why wouldn't I? No one expects the Avatar to just punch them in the face."

It surprises a laugh out of him. "You're right."

"And I can teach you--a lot of the things I do, they still _work_. You won't be as--it'll be different. But it's something."

"Thanks," he says, surprised, and she shrugs.

"I did see you fight," she points out. "Training back in the islands. You're good. You just need to learn some different things. And you should. It's--" She bites her lip. "It can be dangerous, being friends with the Avatar. So--"

"So it's a good thing I know how to kill people if I have to," he says, making a joke out of it.

He's rewarded with her soft laugh. "Exactly, yeah."

"You know, you can talk about it, if you want," he adds, soft.

"What?"

"Anything."

They're almost to the village before she says, "I do know that."

"Good," he says. "Go get us some fruit or something. O's not eating enough fruit."

"Sure she isn't," she says, and bumps his shoulder. "Don't spend all our money on maps and books."

"Not all our money!" he calls after her, and she just laughs.

*

Outside Tondisi, they find their first ally. Octavia spots him and is ready to fight until he says, "It's Octavia, isn't it?" He squints, looks at Bellamy, who's holding his staff at the ready. He and Clarke realized all his spear training worked pretty well with the staff, still effective without being lethal. They're working on other fighting too, along with Octavia, but the staff feels best to him, when he doesn't want to kill anyone. The weight is familiar in his hands, the movements second-nature. "And Bellamy," the man continues.

Bellamy squints, trying to place him, and gets it all at once. "Lincoln, right? You came through the islands three years ago with--"

"Luna," Lincoln supplies. He offers his arm and Bellamy clasps it. "I didn't expect to see the two of you anywhere near the mainland."

"I could say the same about you," Bellamy points out. "Last I heard, Luna found an island and she's still there. I figured you were staying."

"I'm--" He looks around, wary. "No, I'm not living there anymore," he finally says. He clears his throat. "What brings the two of you all the way out here?"

"We aren't living where we used to anymore either," says Bellamy.

"Bell!" says Octavia, scowling. "He's a friend."

"He's an acquaintance," he corrects, but does offer Lincoln a smile. "No offense."

"None taken." He considers, but then says, "I did hear a rumor about two teenagers from the Eastern Water Tribe."

"Yeah?" asks Bellamy, just as mild. Clarke is making sure Jasper is fed and hidden, but she'll be along soon. Hopefully she'll hear them talking and hold back. He _likes_ Lincoln, but liking someone and trusting them with Clarke's life are two very different things. "Good one?"

"Excellent." He nods, making up his mind, and then says, "I'm still working with Luna. Helping people get out of Tondisi and move to Floudon. Away from the Fire Nation. And from the Earth Kingdom."

"How's that working out?" Bellamy asks.

"Slow. Difficult. But--worthwhile. Or, I thought so."

"You don't anymore?" he asks.

"I think there's value in those who don't want to fight having a place," he says. "But--I think there's also value in fighting, if--I don't think Luna has found a solution. I think she's found a better place to hide than on the mainland. But it's still hiding. I agree with her, the world shouldn't be changed with violence. But the world does need to change."

Bellamy glances at Octavia, who raises her eyebrows and inclines her head. "You have been listening to rumors," he finally settles on.

"I have. But I thought that before."

Part of him wants to talk to Clarke first, but he realizes with sudden certainty that she'd tell him she trusted his judgement. He knows Lincoln, and--she trusts him. He had no idea he was so sure of it.

"We have the Avatar," he tells Lincoln, and Lincoln exhales.

"It is--the rumor says she's the same avatar. The last one. An airbender."

"She is," Bellamy agrees. "She was--trapped. For a hundred years."

"And now she's planning to--"

"She's planning to learn how to waterbend," says Bellamy, firm. If he's honest, he doesn't know what happens after that. She might just be a symbol, something to make people confident. Hope, maybe. The Avatar is real, and she's back. Bellamy doesn't know exactly what Clarke is going to _do_ , but he can't blame anyone for feeling better just knowing she exists. He certainly does.

And he's going to make sure she can make a difference.

Lincoln nods. "I'd like to help, then. Not with waterbending, of course, but--anything I can do."

Bellamy glances at his sister, who looks more pleased than he would have expected. "Well," he says, slow, "she's feeding her flying bison. But, yeah. We can introduce you."

Clarke is delighted, of course, and the way her face lights up at the sight of Lincoln makes Bellamy's gut twist. It's nice to have another ally, but--well, Bellamy knows exactly how attractive and charming Lincoln is. He wouldn't blame Clarke for being attracted or charmed.

But then she says, "How are you with hunting and gathering, Lincoln?"

"Not bad."

"Cool. Octavia, you want to take him and get us some dinner?"

"If he can keep up," says O, smirking over her shoulder, and Bellamy realizes Clarke might not be the only one attracted and charmed.

Even better, when they're alone, Clarke crosses her arm and cocks her head at him. "So, how do you know him?" she asks, curious and not accusatory.

She trusts him, he remembers. It's hard to feel jealous.

"He came through the islands about three years ago with Luna. I don't remember her exact title--she's not a princess, but she's royalty of some kind. The Earth Queen tried to have her killed because she was so popular, and she fled. Lincoln was a guard or something. They were looking for a place to settle, and--" He smirks. "Honestly, he had some books and a map, which was why I started talking to him."

She snorts. "Of course it was."

"After a few days, he trusted me enough to tell me what he was doing. They left about a week after that, they wanted somewhere closer to Tondisi. They were just in our islands waiting for the Queen to stop looking for them. He's been smuggling people out there ever since, I guess. Or maybe that just started recently, I don't know."

"Is he an earthbender?"

"No, I don't think so. He's a fighter, though. Or used to be. I don't think any of them fight much now."

"But you think he can help us?"

"Honestly? I think we need to figure out what we're doing. Aside from going to the Southern Water Tribe and getting you and Octavia a teacher."

She sighs and slumps back against Jasper, sliding down until she's sitting on the ground, eyes closed, expression weary. It's easy to forget how old Clarke is, in part because she's technically somewhere around one-hundred-and-twelve. But she's fifteen too, for all she's smart and confident. And she's been thrust into a world where she doesn't know anyone. She doesn't even have people anymore, except for him and Octavia.

He sits down next to her, shoulder brushing hers. "I'm not saying we can't figure that out. Just that we haven't yet."

"I know. I just--I wish I had some idea what I _should_ be doing. It sounds like I shouldn't just go to the Fire Lord and request an audience." Bellamy winces, and she laughs, resting her cheek against his shoulder. "No, I know. I'm not going to. I guess--my mother always told me the time of the fighting avatar was over. She said I should be a diplomat."

"Sounds like it didn't really work."

"I made a good treaty. They just made a treaty they liked more."

For a second, he's unsure, but only for a second, and when he reaches out and lets himself take her hand, she squeezes back instantly, grateful. "So, tell me about it. I know the basic history, but--I hear history is written by the victors."

He hears her sigh, but she doesn't object. "The last Avatar was Avatar Ilan, from the Fire Nation. Do you know about him?"

"Not much. Friends with Fire Lord Dante, right?"

"Yeah. And he--I guess he thought that the best thing for the world would be to unite as--one community. Which is a nice dream. But Dante got all the wrong ideas about what that meant. So when Ilan died, he started putting pressure on us. The Air People."

"Why you?"

Her thumb traces over his knuckles, deliberate, like she's really expecting to learn something from doing it. "A few reasons, I guess. For one, the Air People had the most unity and the loosest government. I know all the Eastern Water Tribes are pretty much independent, yeah?"

"Yeah. We don't fight each other, but we don't have a king or anything."

"We have--had--a chancellor, he was elected every six years. The chancellor was my best friend's dad." She huffs out a small laugh. "I was sure he was the Avatar."

"Who?"

"My best friend, Wells. We were about the same age, I thought if anyone was going to be the Avatar, it would be him. He--" Her breath catches. "He would have been a great Avatar."

"And you're not?"

"My track record doesn't look so hot." She worries her lip. "Like I said, my mom--she was on the council--she was sure that we could figure something out peacefully. I was fourteen when I went to train in the Earth Kingdom. Lexa was seventeen, she was--a new queen. And she was happy to teach me. I told her if we worked together, we could figure out a peaceful solution with the Fire Nation. Stop them taking over without violence. And--she agreed with that part."

"But her treaty gave up the Air People."

"Yeah." She buries her face against his shoulder. "By the time I got home, after it happened-the Northern Air Temple was already gone. They moved so _quickly_. I should have gone to the Southern Air Temple to warn them, but--I couldn't even think, I was so angry."

He pauses. "The Fire Nation got routed at the Northern Air Temple. It was a massacre on both sides. I always wondered about that, because--I didn't see how the Air People could get wiped out and still do so much damage to the Fire Nation."

"No, I did the damage to the Fire Nation. And then I--I couldn't. I just took off. It wasn't supposed to be--"

"Hey," he says, gentle. "I know."

"You don't," she says, but he can hear a smile in her voice.

"I was there when you came out of your--whatever it was. You didn't think it had been as long as it was. You didn't decide to sleep for a hundred years." He presses his lips to her hair. "I believe you screwed up. I don't believe all this is your fault."

"Maybe if I hadn't destroyed the army, the Southern Air Temple could have made a deal."

"They'd already massacred one temple," he points out. "If anything was going to stop them, getting massacred right back was probably it."

Her laugh is watery. "Wow. Thanks."

"Look, I wasn't there. But I've read the histories, and I think everyone involved was basically a dick, except for you. And I thought that before I met you, so don't worry. You were the Avatar, you were working in good faith. They screwed you over and killed your people. I would have disappeared too. For a little while."

"No, you wouldn't," she says.

"If Octavia had died," he says. "Fuck, I don't know what I'd do if I came home and found everyone dead. My sister dead. I can't even imagine."

"It was pretty bad." Her voice is so soft he can feel his heart break, and when she lets go of his hand to wrap her arms around him instead, he pulls her against him. "It wasn't like it was a hundred years ago."

"I know," he says. "We'll figure something out, Clarke."

"I feel like I'm supposed to know. I'm the Avatar, I'm not supposed to need people." She burrows closer. "But I'm glad you're here."

"Yeah," he agrees. "I am too."

*

In the morning, Clarke announces, "I want to go to the Southern Air Temple." There's a quality to her voice he hasn't heard before, firm and commanding, and he has to smile when he realizes she's _nervous_ and trying to hide it.

"We're going south anyway, right?" he says. "It's probably on the way."

"I'd like to come with you," Lincoln offers, hesitant. "But if I disappear without any trace, Luna will worry."

Clarke glances at Bellamy, and he shrugs. "How far is it?" she asks.

"A day by boat."

"So about that long by bison too," says Clarke. "We can do that." She offers him a smile. "It wouldn't be the worst thing, right? More people seeing the Avatar."

"Depends on the people," he grumbles, and she grins wider. 

Bellamy didn't actually meet Luna when she and Lincoln came through; part of him hadn't even entirely believed that Lincoln's story was true to begin with, given Lincoln ended up telling him about it the same night they first slept together. It sounded like the kind of thing he might say to someone who he wanted to get into bed. But Lincoln's always seemed like an honest kind of guy, and when Bellamy heard rumors about the lost Earth Kingdom ruler, he assumed it was true.

It's still strange to see the island, this great fortress off the coast, all great earthen walls. Ever since he left home with Clarke, almost everything is new, but--this is even newer. He thought he knew about islands, but he never knew anything like this.

"I thought you were peaceful," Clarke says, frowning.

"We are," says Lincoln. "We don't live in a peaceful world. The walls are to keep other people out. You don't see soldiers, do you?"

Clarke frowns. "So you think the walls will be enough?"

"It's not as if we're the Water Tribe," he says. "They have to find us first, and then they have to get through the walls. By the time anyone returns with a force large enough to bring us down, we can be gone."

"Sounds like a shitty way to live," Bellamy says.

Lincoln shrugs. "Our people think they've fought enough for one lifetime."

Clarke looks away. "Must be nice."

As Lincoln said, there aren't any guards, but everyone inside the walls is watching them, no surprise. He'd never even heard of a flying bison, let alone seen one. They probably thought they were safe.

"Go to the square," says Lincoln, pointing to a clear, paved area in the middle of the island. "We don't have anything to hide."

Clarke guides the bison in, and Lincoln jumps down first, holding his hands up to show he has no weapons. The woman who comes to greet him is around their age, maybe a little older, with wild red hair and calculating eyes. 

"What happened to your boat?" she asks, finally.

Lincoln takes a knee before her, and when Bellamy, Octavia, and Clarke scramble down, they all do the same. She's some kind of royalty, he figures.

"I brought the Avatar," he says, and her eyebrows shoot up. She glances between the three of them, but settles on Clarke quickly, the clear outsider.

"The Avatar," she says, speaking to Clarke. "Are you an old avatar, or a new avatar?"

"An old one," says Clarke, standing. She isn't tall, but she has presence, this clear feeling of authority.

Luna nods. "I hope I look so good at one-hundred-ten."

"One-hundred-twelve, I think," Clarke says. "It has its ups and downs."

"I would imagine so." She nods, just once. "And what can we do for the Avatar?"

"This is actually a courtesy call. Lincoln agreed to join us. We didn't want you to worry about him, when he didn't come back."

"You want to go with them?" Luna asks him, even and unreadable. 

"She's the Avatar," Lincoln says. "I think you've done something great here, Luna, but--it's only _here_."

"And what is the Avatar going to do?"

"Whatever I can," Clarke says. And then, she glances back, smiles at him and Octavia. "Whatever _we_ can."

Luna's eyes flick back to him and Octavia. "Water tribe," she says.

"And?" Bellamy asks.

"Not the companions I would have expected, for the Avatar." But she shrugs it off, smiles at Lincoln. "Of course we'll miss you. But if this is the path you must take--"

"It is."

"Then stay the night and let us feed you. If there's any help we can provide, we will." 

He has to admit, it's a pretty nice setup they've got going. They don't seem to be worried about the Fire Nation finding them, or the Earth Kingdom for that matter, even with Lincoln sneaking back to smuggle people out of Tondisi. None of the children are learning how to fight, and no one seems afraid. It's staggering.

"You okay?" Clarke asks. They had a good meal, and now they're gathered around a campfire. Lincoln is telling some kids a story about his last trip, and Clarke's only just managed to extricate herself from a group who wanted to see airbending tricks. Bellamy's drinking a little, some local wine, but mostly just--far away, somehow.

"Yeah."

She bumps his shoulder with hers. "Try it again. You're a better actor than that."

He ducks his head on a reluctant smile. It's a constant surprise, the way Clarke seems to _get_ him. Maybe it's an avatar thing. Maybe she can just read people.

"It's fine. Just--I could have done something different, right? All I did was keep my sister from learning how to use her bending and train for a war we couldn't possibly win."

"Hey," she says, surprise lacing her voice. "You didn't do anything wrong, Bellamy."

He snorts. "I appreciate your confidence. You've known me for, what, a couple weeks?"

"You said you're nineteen, right?"

"Yeah."

"How long have you been alone?"

He blinks, surprised by the question. "I'm not alone."

Clarke bites her lip, looks down at her hands. She has arrows tattooed on her arms too, and he has to wonder what it's like, to look at every person she meets, to see their hands and know she's the last of her people.

"I found out I was the Avatar when I was thirteen. I shouldn't have been told until I was sixteen, but--my mother thought I was important. So I was supposed to spend all my time being the Avatar. Learning airbending. Learning about how to talk to the previous Avatars. All this--stuff. And I was always talking to someone, learning from someone. But once my parents and Chancellor Jaha figured out Wells was sneaking in to see me, they sent him away. And then I was--I didn't have anyone." She cocks her head at him, smiles, soft and warm. "So, how long have you been alone?"

He wets his lips, swallows. "Probably since the village elder told me O might be the Avatar. But--maybe before that. Since my mom died."

"Yeah. I think you're doing a pretty good job." She rests her head on his shoulder, warm and easy, and his heart speeds up, despite his best efforts to keep it in control. It's only been a few weeks, and she's--she has so fucking much happening. He's not allowed to feel this way about her. He's not allowed to want her. She has so much to do. "You gave your sister a good life."

"I tried. She could stay here."

Clarke actually cackles, this bright, sharp crack of sound. "You think your sister wants to live behind walls and never fight for anything?"

When she puts it like that, he has to laugh to. "No, you're right. But--it's nice, right?"

"Yeah." She's quiet for minute, and then says, "You could stay too, you know. If you like it. I'm sure she'd let you."

"Fuck no," he says, without thinking about it. Which is stupid, because when he does, it makes sense. It's not like he has a lot to contribute to Clarke's trip. Lincoln is better at being the non-bender than he is, probably. Lincoln was trained to guard an Earth Kingdom princess; Bellamy trained himself, and he's still not sure what kind of warrior he even wants to be. They don't need him.

But Clarke says, "Good," and snuggles closer to him. So, yeah.

Of course he couldn't stay.

*

Luna gives them food, dried fruits and vegetables. He asks about meat and she says they don't believe in eating living things; Clarke laughs at his expression for so long he stops being annoyed and starts being glad it's giving her such enjoyment.

"Sorry," she says, when she recovers. "I was just thinking about you living somewhere you couldn't eat meat. It's a good thing you're coming with us."

"Shut up," he says, and she grins.

Even better than the food, she gives them a _map_ , and Bellamy spends hours studying it after they leave, plotting routes and figuring out safe places to land and spend the night. He loves it, finding the path they've taken, where they can go next. It's going to be so much faster now, so much safer.

"You are the biggest dork in the history of the world," Octavia tells him. "It's just a _map_ , Bell."

"The more people who hear about Clarke, the more danger we're going to be in. This gives us a chance to avoid them instead of getting into a fight we can't win."

"We can win fights!" she protests. "No one knows how to fight Clarke, she's an airbender. No one's fought an airbender for a hundred years. You're okay with your staff, I'm getting better at waterbending, and I bet Lincoln's still good if he needs to be."

"I won't kill anyone," Lincoln says. "Never again."

Octavia rolls her eyes. "This is really a killing people group. You'll be fine."

"We still don't want to fight the whole Fire Army," Clarke says. "And I'd rather not deal with the Earth Kingdom either, from what I've heard." She comes to sit next to Bellamy. "But the Queen doesn't leave Polis, right?"

"Not if she can help it," Lincoln says. "It's where she's powerful. The walls of Polis are solid, and her Nightblood army is well-trained. If the Fire Nation were to attack, they would have a long fight on their hands. I think they could win, but--it would take time. And Queen Ontari would be happy to let the whole world fall, as long as she's left her piece of it."

"Then she'll probably leave me alone, right?"

Lincoln shrugs. "She doesn't like giving things up. That's why she chased Luna. But I never knew her well. She might not care, or she might think of you as a status symbol."

"Are you giving us status?" Bellamy asks. "Awesome. I've never had status before."

"Yeah, you're so much cooler because you know me." She leans in. "The Air Temple is here," she says, pointing to a spot in the south. "We'll have to go across most of the continent, but we were going to have to do that anyway."

"You know, flying bison isn't really the most subtle way to travel over ground. If anyone sees us--"

"They can't catch us, right?"

"I'm not convinced you're taking this seriously enough."

"People should know, right? That I'm here and back. That--that I'm going to do something."

"Hope flies by on a giant bison," Bellamy says, and she nudges his shoulder with hers. It seems to be her favorite way to show affection, and she tends to show it most to him. It's almost disconcerting, how much the Avatar likes him.

How much _Clarke_ likes him.

"It's got to come on something." She smiles. "I'm not saying we should--we'll be careful. But this is the fastest way we can get there, and I think we should go as quickly as we can."

"Because when you don't have a plan, it's important to not have a plan as quickly as possible," he teases, and to his surprise, she scowls. "Hey, I think it's good, as non-plans go. Maybe the Southern Water Tribe will have a better idea of what to do."

"Maybe," she says, but it's soft and contemplative, and she's quiet for the rest of the day, until they reach the campsite Bellamy chose. Lincoln volunteers to go find food, and Octavia helps Bellamy set up the campsite. He's not paying much attention to his sister, distracted with Clarke, who's tending Jasper and still seems to be thinking.

When Octavia says, "Bell!" it's clear she's been trying to get his attention for a while.

"Sorry, what?"

She rolls her eyes at him. "I was going to be all cool and casual about this, but you're not listening, so you totally ruined it."

"I can't believe I did that to you. What is it?"

She worries her lip. "Um, Lincoln. You guys aren't--I mean. I know you think I was just some dumb kid back then, but I know you and Lincoln had a thing before. So--is that still happening?"

He feels heat rush up his neck, and he can't help glancing at Clarke. Her back is to him, and he has no idea what she might be thinking. 

"No, that was--no. It wasn't anything serious, O." And then he realizes why she's asking and says, "No."

"I got that."

"I mean--you're not. Either. Don't even think about--"

"Think about what?" she asks, way too innocent. "I was just curious."

He rubs his face. "We're not here to make love connections, O. And you're too young for a boyfriend."

"You had girlfriends when you were my age. Boyfriends too."

"Yeah, well, I was too young for it." He rubs the back of his neck. "You're got more important shit to think about than your love life," he finally says, and feels like a hypocrite, because he's got a crush on the fucking _Avatar_.

Judging from the significant look his sister, she's thinking the same thing. But it's not like he's letting this interfere in his life, or in Clarke's. It's just there, a knowledge that she's very pretty and he's shockingly fond of her. That he wants to take care of her, and wants to make sure she knows she's going to do this.

"I never said I was thinking about it," O finally says, haughty. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't thinking about it. Him, specifically. I figured you weren't. I'm gonna go set up my tent," she adds, with another significant look at Clarke.

Bellamy doesn't take the bait, just gets to working on cooking dinner. After a minute, she comes to sit with him anyway. But what she says is, "Tell me about succession in the Fire Nation."

"Succession?"

"If anything had happened to Fire Lord Dante, his son would have taken over. And he was even worse. Convincing Dante that peace was a good idea seemed like better than trying to defeat him. That's the kind of stuff I need to know. What does saving the world look like, Bellamy?"

It feels like such a fucking huge question, one that _he_ shouldn't be answering. He's just some kid from a small island. He might be the leader, in a few years, when the Elder passes, but he doesn't know what the world needs. Not the whole world.

"I think it looks like not being afraid," he says, slow.

"Not being afraid?"

"That's what it comes down to, right? I've been afraid my whole life of the Fire Nation, of O being the Avatar, of O not being the Avatar. Of all this shit that could destroy my life. If you want the world to get better? People have to stop being afraid all the time."

She smiles. "Yeah. That sounds about right." 

"So, the Fire Nation," he says. "Current ruler is Fire Lord Emerson. He's being pretty aggressive about expanding their territory. He has a son who's too young to rule, so I think his niece Maya would be next in line. At least until his son comes of age."

"If he's young, maybe he'd still--I don't know. Maybe his father hasn't influenced him too much yet."

"Maybe." He glances at her, just enough to check her expression. She looks like she's gazing at something so far away he can't even imagine it. "Would you kill him?"

"Not right away. Not if--I don't want to kill anyone. But if killing one person saves everyone, I should do it, right? If that would--if that would make peace."

"So what we should really do is see what the Fire Nation is like," Bellamy says. "See if it's really a whole country of people who want to wage wars. Those soldiers--they were assholes to that thief, and he was just a kid. But they were soldiers."

She smiles a little. "You really don't trust soldiers, do you?"

"Why would I? All of ours left us, and the Fire Nation ones just come in to raid. But--if there wasn't a war, they'd probably just be regular assholes, right?"

Clarke lets out a soft snort of laughter. "Yeah, and I don't think we can get rid of those."

"No. Which is good, because I like existing."

That gets an actual, genuine laugh. It's probably weird, how good it makes him feel to make her laugh, given it's never been a skill of his, or something he values. He just wants her to be happy.

It's a dangerous thought, and he doesn't let himself focus on it.

"Me too," says Clarke. "So, first we go to the Southern Air Temple, then the Southern Water Tribe, and then--" She catches her lip with her teeth, nervous. "I just keep assuming you're coming with me."

"So do I."

"You don't have to, though. I wouldn't--if you need to go back and defend your people--"

"I am defending my people," he says. "You're our best chance, Clarke."

"Good."

He holds it in for a second, but then he has to ask, "Why do you trust me?"

"What?"

"Why me? O's a waterbender, Lincoln's a guard, I'm just--some guy."

"You're smart and capable and tell me when I'm wrong. Not everyone does that to the Avatar." She smiles. "I like you, and you haven't given me any reason not to trust you, and plenty of reasons why I should. What else do you want?"

"Nothing," he says, even as his throat feels like it's closing up. "Just curious." He clears his throat. "Octavia's been gone for a while."

Clarke's smile is teasing. "Maybe she found Lincoln."

"Don't even start."

"Is it--common? Accepted?"

Her voice is strange, and he raises his eyebrows. "Which part?"

"It sounded like you and Lincoln used to--you were involved. Is it common for men to--"

"Oh." He rubs the back of his neck. "Not common, but--it happens. It depends on where you are, I guess. No one in the islands minds much, but I think it's less accepted other places. I don't know. I like women too, so it was--nice if I could get it, but I never had to worry too much either way."

Clarke nods. "I'm the same. I like--men and women. It wasn't--Wells knew, and the Earth Queen--she realized. She wanted to--but she made the treaty before anything could really--" She draws her knees up, hugging them against her chest, and she looks small and young again.

He puts his arm around her shoulders and squeezes. "Hey, if you want a girlfriend, we'll definitely get you a girlfriend. You're the Avatar, that's the ultimate pick-up line."

She laughs and leans into him. "Thanks. It just--sometimes it feels really far away, you know? And sometimes I forget there's a new queen and a new fire lord, and we're going to see a temple that doesn't exist anymore."

"We don't have to," he points out. "It was your idea, we can just go straight to the Southern Water Tribe and skip it."

"No, I think I need to see. All of this--it's different, but I didn't really know any of these places before, you know? I need to see what happened for myself. What's changed."

"If you're sure, yeah. But--" He shuts his mouth, because she knows as well as he does what they're going to find. Not the specifics, maybe, but--everyone knows what happened to the Air People. He doesn't know what kind of ruin it will be, but it will be a ruin.

"Yeah," she says. "Thanks."

*

It's quicker, with the map, but they still have a long way to go. They let Lincoln scout towns and villages before the rest of them go in, and if there aren't soldiers around, they'll go in after. They keep themselves separate from Lincoln, for these visits, so the rumor stays that the Avatar is traveling with a couple of siblings from the Water Tribe. It feels a little paranoid, but in a crisis, it might be useful, for people to think they're a group of three when they're really a group of four.

It's almost unreal, watching her interact with people, just _people_ , doing airbending tricks and chatting and smiling, being--hope. That's all he can think of it as.

"I wish I'd trained for this," she admits to him, soft, after their third town visit. Octavia and Lincoln tend to lag more, letting Clarke and Bellamy get ahead of them. Bellamy really wants to be annoyed--his sister knows exactly how much he hates walking slowly, and she's definitely doing it to spend time with Lincoln--but it's not as if he doesn't want to walk with Clarke.

"We'll get to the Southern Tribe soon," he assures her, and she smiles.

"I didn't mean training. Not that kind. I was never a public avatar, I guess. Even after I left home, the Earth Queen kept me separate. I was a guest in the palace, so I never just saw--people. I never really saw anyone, after I became the Avatar."

"Well, the good news is, it doesn't matter."

She laughs. "Yeah?"

"The oldest person in my tribe is our Elder. She's eighty-four. So you disappeared before she was even born. There's almost no one alive today who remembers the world having an avatar."

"This is really helping."

"It's amazing to us that you exist, Clarke. That the Avatar is a real thing, not just a story. You don't have to do much more than just that to make a difference." He grins. "Which is good, because you suck with people."

She shoves him lightly, feigning annoyance, but he can see her bright grin. "Thanks, dick."

"You're welcome."

It's an easy routine, with the four of them. Octavia and Clarke work together in the mornings, doing whatever they can to figure out waterbending, while Lincoln and Bellamy spar. He always likes learning new things, and it's good to start feeling like he really knows what he's doing in a fight, instead of just hoping the training he made up as a kid is actually effective.

Which it is. He's proud of that too.

They fly in the afternoons and stop in villages when they can. He's paranoid a lot, worried someone will see them, but their skirmishes are limited to a few lucky (or unlucky) soldiers when they try to sneak into villages, and they tend to do well with those. They're good at this.

But word is starting to spread. A few days out of the Southern Air Temple, Lincoln notices an increase in soldiers in the villages, and there are wanted signs on the message boards. It's not a great likeness of any of them, but Bellamy keeps the first one anyway. He's never had a wanted poster before. It's pretty cool.

He frets about the temple too, because he doesn't know what it'll do to Clarke, seeing whatever they find there. She seems better and better lately, getting used to things, and he wonders if she didn't have _some_ sense of time passing, in her Avatar trance. Not as long as did pass, but--something.

Maybe he just wants her to be okay, selfishly. He wants her to feel distant from what she's done, so it won't hurt her as much.

"We don't have to go," he tells her that night.

"I know. But we are." She shifts a little. "If I ask something weird, are you going to be a jerk about it?"

"Probably."

She snorts, but her eyes dart away from his almost at once, and the mood is sober. "I figured. I, um--I'm probably going to have trouble sleeping tonight, it's easier if I, um--if there's someone with me." He raises his eyebrows, and she flushes. "Not--I just want to share a bedroll. That's what Wells and I did the day before they told us who the Avatar was. It helped."

"I don't mind," he says, which is mostly true. He and Octavia used to share a bed sometimes, when it got cold, and he never had trouble sleeping then. On the other hand, he was sharing with his sister for warmth, which he suspects is going to feel very different from being close to _Clarke_.

But he still wants to, of course.

Her smile is soft. "Thanks. I hope your sister doesn't tease you too much."

"Yeah, I don't believe that at all."

"No, you're right, I'm really looking forward to it," she agrees, cheerful. "I'm going to go wash off, do you need water or anything?"

"I really don't want your dirty bath water, Clarke."

She sticks her tongue out and he goes back to working on dinner, but, honestly, he can't concentrate at all, thinking about what's coming tonight. 

Traveling with the Avatar is absolutely nothing like he would have expected.

He puts off going to sleep, watching the fire until it's nearly embers while Clarke does her own exercises and tends to the bison. Finally, she comes over and bumps him with her hip. "Change your mind?"

"Just waiting for you," he says, standing and brushing off his pants. He's not nervous.

Clarke always sleeps near him, so she just tugs her roll right up next to his, and when he delays, pushes him down and curls around him. His breath still catches, because it's so much more than just having her leaning into his side. But it's not hard to get his arms working, to wrap them around her and tug her in.

It would be nice if it was more difficult, probably.

"Good?" he murmurs.

She sighs, content, and settles her face against his neck. "Good," she agrees. "Goodnight, Bellamy."

"Goodnight," he echoes, and while it takes him a while to get to sleep, he's never enjoyed insomnia more.

*

He wakes up to his sister's foot in his side, which hasn't happened in a while. He _never_ sleeps later than Octavia. He groans and flails to hit her, but Clarke makes a noise and he remembers where he is and what the warm thing wrapped around him is, so he opens his eyes to glare at Octavia instead.

She's looking like it's her birthday and the new year celebration all at once, and Bellamy rubs his eyes. "What?"

"It's _late_. We need to get moving. Lincoln and I made breakfast for you and everything. So you two could sleep in."

"Shut up," he says, extricating himself carefully so Octavia can see they're both fully clothed. Then he shakes Clarke's shoulder. "Come on, Avatar. Time to save the world."

When she blinks her eyes open and smiles at him, he's glad for his sister's presence; it's just as well he's not dealing with this alone, when he'd be tempted to do something stupid. "Already?" she asks.

"Don't be lazy."

"Mmm," she says, content, and he gets up and starts getting ready for the day himself so he won't watch her stretching. And averts his eyes from Octavia, who still looks positively _gleeful_. There's a reason he tries to keep any romantic dalliances he has away from her; she's insufferable.

"What's for breakfast?" he asks her, overly gruff, and ignores her snickering too.

Even with all that, it's one of his better mornings.

When they fly, he tends to focus on the map, updating it as needed. It's been a long time since a cartographer could actually get through the whole continent, and Luna's map is better for broad strokes than small villages. He gets antsy easily, so it's nice to be able to add in features, to change a forest into farmland, add in a large dam that's made a new lake. It certainly beats sitting around doing nothing, once conversation has run out.

Today, he leans against Clarke while he does it, his back propped against her shoulder, the kind of casual affection she doesn't have to put any effort into. Octavia's laughing at him, he's sure, but at this point, nothing he could possibly do would stop that, which is oddly freeing. It's not as if Clarke hasn't noticed O's mocking him, and that's all that really matters. She doesn't seem to mind it, anyway.

It's Lincoln who asks, after they stop to eat lunch, "Do you want us to come in with you?"

"Hm?" asks Clarke. She's barely eating, mostly just looking at her hands, not that he can blame her.

"Do you want all of us to join you at the temple?"

Bellamy tenses, but Clarke's exhalation of breath is all relief. "Yes, please," she says, before he can worry too much about why she's glad of the question. "Don't make me go alone."

Lincoln laughs. "We had so many better things to do," he teases.

"It's a very nice area. Plenty of--" She swallows, falters. "Much better things than a ruined temple."

"I like ruins," Bellamy says. 

"He does," Octavia agrees, actually helpful for once. "He used to complain about how we don't have buildings that last like the Earth Kingdom does."

"No access to stone," he says, with a shrug. "And too many storms. But I always wanted to travel and see more architecture. So I'm definitely coming with you."

Her smile is a little weak, but it feels genuine. "So long as you won't be bored."

"I think bored is the last thing I'll be," he says, and she laughs, as he hoped she would. He's getting better at her sense of humor, because it's as bad as his.

"Who could be bored at the site of a massacre?"

"Exactly. There's so much history there."

"That's the spirit," Octavia mutters, but it's not like he's doing this for her benefit. Clarke's smile is stronger; that's all he cares about.

Lincoln volunteers to steer after lunch, and Clarke curls up to watch Bellamy work on the map, pointing out places she's been and favorite spots. 

"Could you tell time was passing?" he asks, because he's so curious. He wouldn't know how to talk about his life a hundred years ago; he doesn't know how she can. 

"I don't know. It was a little like--I was waking up from a dream. I think I talked to some of the past Avatars. Spirits. But it wasn't like a hundred years." She grins. "I feel about your age, if it helps. But that might just be because you're so immature."

"I just don't want to push too much," he says, not taking the bait. "I've always known this stuff. But it's real for you."

"You're good, Bellamy." She closes her eyes and settles in. "You're the best."

He's so glad her eyes are closed. "Didn't get any sleep after all?" he asks.

"I'm saving my strength. I slept very well. Shut up."

"Are you sure you didn't get younger? That was O's favorite argument when she was ten." He pauses. "Actually, never mind, it's still her favorite argument."

"Shut up, Bell!" Octavia calls.

"That really doesn't help your case!"

Clarke laughs and snuggles closer. "Like I said, you're good. This helps."

"Cool," he says. "This is what I'm good at."

*

Maybe it's just that he knows what happened, but the temple feels like a tomb, huge and imposing, but dead too. It makes a chill creep up his spine, and when Clarke's hand bumps against his, he takes it without hesitation, grateful for the contact.

"There's really no one here," she murmurs, and he squeezes her fingers.

"Yeah, but like I said, so much history."

She lets out a breath. "Okay. Ready?"

"Whenever you are."

If he looks at it in a detached way, the temple is incredible, the kind of place he's always dreamed of seeing in person. But Clarke is by his side, her grip tight on his hand, and it's hard not to think about how it must be for her. It's not a homecoming; this wasn't where she grew up. But it's still her place. 

When Bellamy was twelve, a typhoon destroyed one of the villages on a nearby island. He'd only been there a few times, but the Elder sent him with the scouting party that went to check on them, and it was unreal, seeing all the ruined buildings and wrecked trees, comparing it to the thriving town he'd seen when he visited a few weeks before.

This must be like that for her, but with a hundred years of decay.

"Wells was here," she murmurs. "And my dad. That was--when they destroyed my home, I at least thought they survived."

"Maybe they did. Maybe some of them got out."

"Maybe."

"They'd definitely be dead by now either way," he says, and she chokes on a sob or a laugh.

"You're so lucky that actually makes me feel better."

"I know."

"This was where we used to play airball," she says, tugging him toward an overgrown field. Lincoln and Octavia are lagging behind them as usual, but he can't blame them this time. Clarke will tell them when she wants them.

"I'm not surprised that one didn't last after the Air People."

"Yeah, you'd be terrible at it. I was too. Wells used to tease me. I was the Avatar and I couldn't even get the ball to do what I wanted." She looks up at the temple, this huge, imposing thing. It's falling apart, but not too badly. If anyone wanted to fix it up, they could. "Do you want to see inside?"

"Sure." He squeezes her hand again. "How often did you come here?"

"A few times a year, when I was a kid. My dad was born here, so we would visit his family. After--" She worries her lip. "He and my mom disagreed about what kind of avatar I should be. She won the fight, and he left."

"What kind of avatar? Did he want you to fight?"

"No. he wanted me to be the kind of avatar that has a life outside of just being avatar."

He doesn't know what to say to that, but he's saved from responding when she sees a burn scar on one of the walls, traces the black gash with her fingers.

"Here's what I don't get: why did they wipe out the airbenders? You told me it had to do with government, but that doesn't seem like--enough, I guess."

"Me, I think."

"But you were in the Earth Kingdom."

"And I had a very public falling out with the Earth Queen when she betrayed me," Clarke says, with a smirk. "Everyone knew I wasn't staying. But I wasn't ready to go home either. I was just--wandering. For a while. I heard the Fire Nation army was on the move, and I thought they were looking for me, but--I didn't make it."

"And no one knew what happened to you."

"Yeah. So I guess they just kept killing airbenders." Her smile is wry. "They'd get the right one eventually, right?"

"And then they'd get the next avatar," he says. "Like our elder warned me about when she thought it could be O."

"It's a stupid plan. If they'd killed me--the next avatar would remember it."

"Yeah? That's cool. Tell me about that."

So Clarke tells him about the Avatar State, about how she can access the spirit world sometimes, and it makes him a little jealous, that there are all these things he won't ever witness.

But Clarke won't ever not be the Avatar. He's not sure he'd make the trade, if he was given the chance. 

She relaxes as she talks, and stories of the past start to creep in again. Octavia and Lincoln join them when O's patience finally runs out, and all her questions seem to help too. It's a tomb, but it's been long enough since anyone lived here it doesn't feel like that to him, and he can feel Clarke getting used to it.

This is the world now.

When they make camp in the old great hall, Clarke drags her roll back next to his, looking shy in the firelight. "Can I--"

"Yeah," he says, offering a smile. "It's fine."

"Thanks."

They talk quietly over dinner, and the place feels eerier, the darker it gets. He doesn't believe in ghosts, except that he's with an avatar who just told him she could speak to her past lives, so why wouldn't there be ghosts here too? He should just start believing in everything.

Once she's curled around him again, he asks Clarke, "Does this help?"

"Yeah," she says, burrowing closer.

"I meant being here. But thanks. I always like being appreciated."

"Being here helped until it got dark, it's fucking creepy," she grumbles, and he laughs. "It's--it's not really _good_. It's awful. But it'll be better to have it done."

"Good."

Her fingers grip the thin material of his shirt. "Octavia said you were good at stories."

"The best."

"Tell me one?"

He smiles and noses her hair. "What are you, five?"

"One-hundred-and-twelve." Her pause is deliberate. "And a half."

Bellamy's never been in love before. He's loved his people, generally, and his sister, specifically, but he's never had a person like Clarke before. Someone he cares about as much as he wants. His mouth goes dry for a minute with the certainty that this is it. That's how she feels about her.

He's in love.

"Do you know the one about Ailani the Sunbringer?"

"No."

He presses his lips to her hair. "Good. That's my favorite."

*

Bellamy thinks she might want another day, but in the morning, all Clarke says is, "Only a few days to the Southern Water Tribe. Depending on the weather."

He scowls. "Oh yeah, they have snow, right? O, you can bend snow away from me, right?"

"We're gonna have a snowball fight!" she calls, cheerful.

"You're gonna win!"

"Hey, I can bend too," Clarke points out. "You get Lincoln, I'll get Octavia."

"Can you bend snow?"

"Can she? At least I've _seen_ snow."

"Good point. Have you been to the Southern Water Tribes before?"

"Just once, for a day or two. With my dad. He liked to travel. I didn't know I was the Avatar yet, so I just threw snowballs like--"

He smiles when she can't figure out what to say. "Like all of the unchosen," he teases.

"Sorry I'm more special than you."

"You should be."

She ducks her head on a small laugh, and he feels his own smile grow. He's met plenty of people who have made him bitter about their rank, or his own; Clarke's not one of them.

"So, seriously, how much am I going to hate snow?"

"You don't like being cold, right?"

"Nope."

"Yeah, this is going to be bad for you."

"You like being cold?"

"Northern Air Temple," she says. "I don't like it, but I'm used to it."

"And you were in a block of ice for ninety-seven years."

"That too."

It does get progressively colder once they leave the mainland and get closer to the south pole, and Bellamy ends up sitting with a blanket on his shoulders and scowling most of the time. Which, granted, everyone is wearing blankets, but no one else seems to be scowling as much as he is.

The second night, Clarke climbs in next to him and says, "I know you're freezing, shut up," which is the only good thing about cold, as far as he's concerned.

At least, that's what he thinks until he sees the gates.

He doesn't like snow or ice, and his general disdain for them had kept him from really thinking about how they might be used. But it's like Luna's fortress again, huge and imposing, architecture that feels like it should be familiar. He's supposed to know water and oceans and islands, but the glistening walls of Azgeda are like another world.

"You think I could learn to do that?" Octavia asks, just as awed.

"No way. Too nice." She elbows him, and he grins. "You want to? Gonna be an architect? You know ice is cold, right?"

"I don't have to touch it to bend it."

An arrow flies at them before he can respond, and Jasper makes an irritated sound as he dodges. There's another, and Clarke throws Bellamy the reins while she grabs her glider.

"Stay high, I'm going to go talk to them."

"Oh good, they'll shoot you instead."

"I'm faster and smaller," she says, flashing him a grin. "And really good at dodging. Don't worry. Arrows are easy for me. Airbender."

"Good. I don't want to train another avatar. This is a fucking pain."

She grins again and takes off, and he lets himself watch her fly for a second before he pulls Jasper up. It's still an amazing sight every time, and the Southern Water Tribe must feel the same, because the arrows stop almost at once. Bellamy hears someone shout, "It's the Avatar!" and he figures that's a sign to bring the bison down. 

There's a group of guards regarding Clarke with wary confusion, spears pointing at her without any kind of real intent.

"Making friends already, huh," he murmurs. It's so fucking _cold_. The Southern Tribe better give them some coats.

"Everywhere I go."

"Eastern Water Tribe," says one of the guards. "I heard the Avatar was with some kids from the Eastern Water Tribe."

"You saw her airbending," Bellamy points out. "And we came in on a flying bison. Who else could it be?"

"She can waterbend too," Octavia adds. "Not as well as she can earthbend, but that's why we're here."

"I'm getting bet--" Clarke starts, but Bellamy's been watching a man approaching them, someone who carries himself with authority, and he sees him take a spear, line up the shot.

"Clarke," he says, low, and when she darts her eyes over, he can see her jaw clench.

To his surprise, the man smiles and holds his hands up, spear still in the left, the picture of non-aggression. "I wanted to test her reflexes, but you ruined that."

"Yeah, I feel awful," Bellamy says. He doesn't get in front of Clarke, but he moves closer to her side, and she does the same. O and Lincoln close in on either side of them, presenting a united front. "I was going to ask if you always throw shit at guests, but maybe you do. I'm not really up on the southern traditions."

"I assumed she could bend it away."

"Sure," says Clarke. "But there are less aggressive ways to check that."

The man shrugs. "It seemed more difficult to fake than something you could plan, like--"

"Like a glider and a flying bison?" Bellamy suggests. "Yeah, those are my favorite pranks."

"He's actually a flying buffalo in disguise," Clarke says.

"Can't trust anyone these days."

The man is looking between the two of them with some interest, as if they're a puzzle he thinks he'll solve if he tilts his head right. Finally, he says, "You know, I spent my life wondering what the Avatar might be like. You're not what I was expecting."

"Sorry to disappoint," says Clarke, with a small smile.

"Oh, I'm far from disappointed." He bows. "I am Roan, Prince of Azgeda. You are welcome, Avatar, as are our eastern cousins, and your other companion. I am to bring you to my mother, the queen."

"Diplomacy didn't really work for me, so I'm trying just being myself," says Clarke. "I'm Clarke, this is Bellamy, Octavia, and Lincoln. Octavia and I want to learn waterbending."

Roan looks at her for a minute and then smiles with half his mouth. "As I said, I'm to bring you to the queen. I'm sure she'll be happy to hear your requests."

"Thanks," says Clarke. "Appreciated."

"This seems good," Bellamy tells her, in an undertone, once they've started walking. They've got guards on either side of them, and while no one is in shackles, he still feels like they're prisoners.

"Yeah, I'm excited."

"What's the plan?"

"Do we ever have a plan?" 

"I thought we could try something new. You can probably snowbend. It's like earthbending, right?"

"Only one way to find out. You don't know anything about the queen?" Clarke asks, deliberately raising her voice.

"Not really. My mom's family was Southern Water Tribe, but we didn't really know them. She left when she met my dad and we never went back, but no hard feelings as far as I know. It's a long trip and we never bothered making it. We met other Water Tribe sometimes, but--she's just Queen of Azgeda. It's just a city, not the whole Southern Tribes."

"So far," says Roan. "The Queen hopes to unite the tribe under her rule."

"Worked really well for the Earth Kingdom," Bellamy mutters.

"I never said I thought it was a good idea," says Roan, mild.

"But you are telling us about it," Octavia says, wary.

"It's no secret. You would have found out soon enough. I only want you to be informed."

Bellamy and his sister exchange a look at that, and O rolls her eyes. He's inclined to agree; he hates politics. As long as it's among the tribe, as far as he's concerned, it's none of their business. And if it leaves the tribe, they can deal with that after they deal with the Fire Nation. And possibly the Earth Kingdom.

Apparently he's just going to be helping with Avatar shit for the rest of his life, if it's up to him. Maybe he should try to start liking politics.

"I am a little behind on current affairs," says Clarke, and Roan and Bellamy both snort, which he thinks should probably be either reassuring or annoying. Probably both.

"Like our eastern cousins," Roan says, inclining his head to Octavia and Bellamy, "we've historically been unallies tribes. Times being as they are, my mother thinks a united front might be best."

"With her at the head."

"It was her idea."

"So I bet she's not happy about the Avatar being back," Octavia says.

Roan shrugs, smooth and easy. It feels like kind of a cliche to say that someone who lives in an ice city is _cool_ , but he is. "She's a pragmatist. There are advantages to being the queen the Avatar came to for help, too." He pauses, and then says, "I don't believe you're in any danger. You have my word on that."

"We don't know a thing about your word," Bellamy points out.

"No," he agrees. "But I assume you'd rather have it than not."

The Royal Palace reminds him a little of the air temple, although the design isn't very similar. But they're both large and ornate and intimidating. But maybe the rest of the world is used to giant buildings, and it's just him who thinks it's weird.

"If it goes bad, get out," Bellamy tells Clarke, low. "We'll be fine."

"Not happening," she says, giving him a somewhat amused smile. "Don't be stupid, Bellamy."

It's on the tip of his tongue to say she's the _Avatar_ , and she means something to people, but he realizes at once how much stupider it would be to say it. Because people mean something to her, too.

"Fine," he says. "But you don't be stupid either."

"I won't get myself killed if you don't," she says, and he snorts.

"Good deal."

He drops behind her a little once they're in the reception hall, still clearly Clarke's second, but not the main attraction. She's the Avatar; she's the one people want to see. But he's not going to leave her.

The Queen of Azgeda has pale hair and pale eyes, and she reminds him of Clarke a little, but older and harder. Clarke, if she was carved out of ice. She rises when they come in, but it doesn't feel like respect. It feels like an act, the tyrant pretending to be benevolent.

If only they knew any other waterbenders, he'd say they should just leave.

"Avatar," says the queen. "You are most welcome."

"Thanks," says Clarke. "I'm glad we made it. I'm hoping to find a waterbending instructor."

The queen actually looks surprised. "A waterbending instructor?"

"I didn't get a chance to learn waterbending," she says, with a shrug. "I was working on earthbending."

"For a hundred years?" asks the queen, a clear invitation for Clarke to explain what happened.

She just shrugs. "If you want to do something right--" Then she seems to rethink it, sobers. "I never meant to leave for so long. I didn't know it was possible, honestly. But I have powers I didn't even know about. I'm back now, and from what I've heard, I'm needed. So I'm here to learn."

"You are needed more than you know," says the queen. "It is an honor," she continues, addressing the whole room, making it a proclamation, "that you have chosen to come to us, Avatar. Sadly I am too busy to teach you myself, but my son, Roan, is regarded as a master. I think he will do well with your education as a waterbender."

"Me and Octavia," Clarke says, and the queen falters.

"Excuse me?"

"My friend Octavia came to learn as well," says Clarke. "I hope Roan won't mind taking another student."

The queen looks a little unnerved, and Bellamy feels his hackles rising. If Clarke can learn from the prince, so can Octavia.

Luckily, Roan himself speaks up before the queen does, or before Bellamy or Octavia can say something ill-advised. "I'd be happy to have another student." He glances at Bellamy. "Only one more?"

"Only one," says Clarke. "Although I assume you two wouldn't mind training with the warriors, if that's okay," she adds, looking at Bellamy herself. "Right?"

"Anything that keeps me warm and active is good with me."

The queen is still looking displeased, but if she's planning to ban her son from teaching Octavia, she's not going to do it publicly. Instead, she says, "I assume you're hungry and tired from your journey. There are rooms for you in the palace, and dinner will be served shortly. You will dine with me, of course, Avatar. I look forward to speaking with you further."

Some guards come to show them to their rooms before Clarke has a chance to reply. He doesn't like it to begin with, and likes it even less when they want to split them up. 

"I don't mind sharing rooms with men," Clarke says, polite but firm. "There's no need for--"

"These rooms are for benders, Avatar," says the guard. "You must be able to bend to enter the royal quarters. The non-benders will stay in the barracks."

Clarke frowns. "So we'll all stay in the barracks," she says.

The man looks horrified. "Avatar, you couldn't possibly--"

"It's okay," Bellamy says. "We're not special. It's cool. We get it." He nudges Clarke. "Talk to the queen about it if you're worried. They can't go against her orders. It's just sleeping, right?" he adds, like they haven't been sleeping together for a week. Like he's not going to miss her warmth at his side. "We'll see you at dinner."

He assumes it's true, but apparently sleeping arrangements aren't the only time benders and non-benders are separated here. There are tiers in the dining hall, with the royal family--and Clarke--at the top, the other benders below them, and the rest of the population lowest. Bellamy can see Clarke's discomfort when he looks at her, but--she _is_ the Avatar. He'd be more offended if she wasn't allowed to sit with the royal family.

It doesn't stop him stabbing his meal with unwarranted viciousness, though.Not that it helps.

And, of course, it gets worse.

The best Bellamy can say is that Queen Nia doesn't stop Octavia from training with Clarke, and she doesn't stop him and Lincoln getting in some training of their own. But apparently _benders are different_ is just part of the way of life in Azgeda, and non-benders almost never interact with them. It doesn't even seem to be about Clarke as the Avatar, it's just something that's known. Which sucks, honestly, because while he likes Lincoln, he misses Clarke and his sister. They make time to get away as much as they can, but it's more important that they learn to waterbend than that they spend time with him.

He just wishes them learning waterbending didn't make it feel quite so much like he didn't belong with them.

"She's your sister?"

Bellamy startles out of his thoughts. They've been in Azgeda for a week, and it's Sunday, which means they finally take a day off. Clarke and Octavia are practicing their waterbending while he reads and Lincoln watches, but at least it's a companionable kind of practice. One where Clarke keeps looking over at him when she does something impressive with the snow and grinning.

"What?" he asks. The girl is vaguely familiar, a few years younger than he is with wavy brown hair and pretty features, but he can't place where he's seen her. And then he realizes he's being rude and corrects to, "Excuse me?"

She smiles, inclines her head to the bench he's on. "May I sit?"

"Go ahead. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What did you ask?"

"The waterbender is your sister?"

"Yeah."

"What's it like, in the Eastern Tribes? Do you have many benders?"

He shakes his head. "No, not many. We get more Fire Nation raids than you do, and they were looking for ours. Some in the army, I guess, but still not many."

She nods. "I'm Gina, by the way."

Her name jogs his memory. "Shit, you're the princess," he says, trying to remember his etiquette, but she just laughs.

"Don't put yourself out on my account. I'm not much of a princess."

"Yeah?"

She shrugs. "My mother wanted me to be the Avatar, and I can't even waterbend. The family disappointment." 

He winces, involuntary, but she laughs. "Sorry," he offers. "I didn't realize."

She shrugs. "It's how it is. My mother was furious, but I couldn't change it. It wasn't like that for you?"

"I don't think my mom cared. And she was dead before we found out O was a waterbender. I never thought about it at all until she started doing it. But it's clearly a big deal here."

"I'm the first royal in five generations born without bending."

"Yeah, that sucks."

She laughs. "It does, a little. I was hoping you'd be able to relate more."

"Your mom won't let me eat with my sister and Clarke because I'm not a bender," he points out. "So I'm pretty annoyed about it."

"How did you end up traveling with the Avatar?" 

"Right place, right time." It's natural to look for Clarke when he's talking about her, and he's surprised to see she's already looking at him. He raises his eyebrows and she shakes her head, gathers a snowball, and throws it at him, slowly enough he can catch it and toss it back.

"You know my mother wants to keep her, don't you?"

"I figured, yeah. She seems to like status symbols."

"You're not worried?"

"Do you think she'll try to keep us from leaving?"

Gina worries her lip. "Not if she can help it. I think she'll try to persuade the Avatar to stay, but she won't use force unless--well, she'd have to be much more desperate."

"Then no, I'm not worried." At the tilt of her head, he shrugs. "Clarke doesn't want to stay. So unless we have to fight our way out, I don't see a problem. She's got better things to do than get involved in Azgeda politics." He flashes her a smile. "No offense."

"None taken," says Gina. "I'd rather not get involved in Azgeda politics either."

He smiles, but before he can say anything, a snowball hits him in the side of the face with a wet smack. When he glances over, Clarke and Octavia both point at each other, and he honestly isn't sure which one of them did it. They're both basically assholes.

"It was nice to meet you," he says. "If you'll excuse me."

She looks like she's biting back on a giggle. "You aren't really going to get in a snowball fight with waterbenders, are you?"

"I'm going to _win_ a snowball fight with waterbenders," he says, and while it's not strictly _true_ , he thinks he does well enough that it counts as everyone losing, not just him.

Clarke airbends him dry after, and grins at the mess she makes of his hair, even tries to smooth it down with her fingers, with no luck.

"I miss you," he says, and immediately regrets it.

But she smiles. "Yeah, I miss you too. We should do something fun."

"What, that wasn't fun?" he teases, and Clarke grins. They spend the afternoon studying his maps, figuring out where they're going to go next, how they'll make their way through the Earth Kingdom, and it's so stupidly nice, just being with her again, reminding himself that she doesn't care he can't bend, that she still trusts him and values him and listens to him.

"The princess says the queen wants you to stay," he remembers to tell her.

Clarke makes a face. "I know. The Avatar: the ultimate status symbol." She pauses. "The princess seems cute."

"Yeah, I guess. I assume you've talked to her more than I have."

"Not a lot." She worries her lip. "She thinks you're cute. She was asking about you."

"She's just glad I'm not a bender," he says. 

"Uh huh," says Clarke, and pats his hair down again. "You're definitely not cute at all."

His breath catches, just because she's close and lovely and he really has missed her. And she's telling him he's--well, it sounds a little like jealousy in her voice. Which would be ridiculous, but nice too.

Amazing, even.

"I never said I'm not cute," he says, and her smile is slow and warm. He's just about made up his mind to kiss her when the bell rings for dinner and breaks the mood.

"What do you think the queen would say if I ate with you instead of the royals?"

"I haven't really talked to her, but she seems like the polite condescension type," Bellamy says. "Passive aggressive shit." He stands and offers her his hand, pulling her up. "It would be worse if she didn't want you to sit with the royals. You're the Avatar. Even if you weren't, you should sit with the other benders."

"Yeah, but it's fucked up, right?" Clarke says, making a face. "You're with me, we should be able to be together."

"It's not like they're doing it for our benefit," he says. "It's a fucked up society. But if you want to make a statement and sit with me and Lincoln, tell O. She won't want to be left out."

Clarke flashes him a smile. "It's less of a statement if I'm the only one, right?"

As he expected, the queen doesn't say anything directly when Clarke sits down next to him at dinner instead of next to Roan, but he can see her jaw set.

The prince and princess look amused; Bellamy thinks about not hating the prince. Just for a second, as an intellectual exercise.

"She's not going to come over," Clarke says, after a few minutes. "Too much of a scene."

"Passive aggression is my favorite aggression," Bellamy says, but he can't help his smile.

"Right?" she asks, and starts talking to one of the kids who's been following Bellamy around during training. He looks so starstruck, it's amazing. And Clarke looks better than she has all week, actually relaxing as she talks to people. This is the kind of Avatar she is; the one who'd like to be a person, when there isn't anything pressing going on.

After dinner, Octavia grabs him. "Don't be a dick."

"Too late," he says, but can't help adding, "About what specifically?"

"The princess."

"Shit, why does everyone think that's a big deal? She was saying hi."

"Clarke's been moping all week because she misses you and now you're talking to the princess."

He rubs his face. "The princess was talking to me. You don't have to defend Clarke's honor or whatever. It's not even a thing and I'm totally--" He sees that his sister is grinning, and realizes slowly that he got played. "Will you just fuck off?"

"Yes, I will," she says, and he's surprised by how painless it was until he feels Clarke's hand slip into his.

"Hi," he says, and squeezes her fingers. "Is this you being possessive? I could live with this."

For a second, he can't read her expression, but then she bites her lip, holding back a huge grin, and tugs his hand again.

"That's exactly what it is. Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"You wanna check out the royal rooms?"

He laughs, but lets her pull him along. "Just because you're the Avatar doesn't mean you can just ignore the rules, Clarke. How am I supposed to get up there?"

"The princess gets up there. Other people are invited up. And I can bend. I think we can work something out."

Bellamy pauses, tugs Clarke down into an empty hallway and traps her up against the wall. When he leans down to her, she meets him halfway, her hand already tangling in his hair, and the kiss is slow and deep and perfect, Clarke so warm and eager against him. He hasn't kissed anyone in a while, and he already never wants to kiss anyone else ever again.

It takes a second for him to remember what he was trying to do when he pulls back, because Clarke's mouth is slightly open, red and wet because of _him_ , and then she starts to grin and he barely knows where he _is_.

"O said you were jealous," he says, stroking his hand against her side once he's regained his wits. She can probably barely feel it, since they're all bundled up, but it's still nice, being able to touch her again. "Of the princess. You really shouldn't be."

"I still missed you," Clarke says, leaning against his chest, and Bellamy wraps his arms around her. "That's why I wanted to bring you up to my room."

"Not going to have your way with me?"

"I am _now_ ," she says, grinning and tugging him back down to kiss him again. "But I was going to pretend I just wanted some body heat."

"Good thing we figured that out," he teases. "Having your way with me sounds a lot better. Come on, show me how much nicer your rooms are than mine."

She tugs him back to the main hallway, grin bright and so perfect he can't help smiling himself. "I thought you'd never ask."

*

Clarke and Octavia still spend most of their time with the benders, and Bellamy and Lincoln are on their own, but they figure out how to be all together again too. For breakfast and lunch, Clarke and Octavia will sit with the non-benders, Clarke tucked into his side so unsubtly that there can be no question how close they are. For dinner, they go back to their assigned tables, but Bellamy hasn't slept in the barracks in weeks. They spend time with both the prince and the princess, and Bellamy finds himself liking both of them more than he expected. Roan takes after his mother, except he has a sense of humor, and his ambitions are different. He wants to do his best for his people instead of growing his own power, and Bellamy can understand that. Gina is lovely, smart and funny and, okay, a little jealous of Clarke, for the first few days. But she gets used to it, and she's a good friend, once everything has smoothed out. It's nice to have more people to spend time with, when Clarke and O are working on their bending. 

He doesn't want to stay forever, but they have a pretty nice routine worked out.

But then everything changes when the Fire Nation attacks.

It's only been a month, but Bellamy should have known that was long enough. He should have realized they needed to _leave_ , but Clarke's struggling with waterbending. It was a joke, at first, when Clarke came in and told him Roan said she had _something rigid_ inside of her that made water a difficult thing to tame. When she first admitted that to him, with total indignation, like no one had ever _dared_ to call her rigid before, he'd laughed so hard she shoved him, and then, when he recovered, he told her he had something rigid that could be inside her any time she wanted. But the longer they were there, the more it frustrated her, and Bellamy stopped making jokes and started trying to help her figure it out, talking her through it, learning the theory of bending so they can practice. 

And he stopped thinking about the rest of the world, because this was the job they needed to do. Clarke can't be the Avatar until she's a waterbender. He's good at tackling the problem in front of him, and it was easy to not think of all the others. This is the first step.

It's just before dawn when someone raises the alarm. Clarke is wrapped around him, her nose in his hair and their legs tangled together, and for a minute he thinks it's just breakfast, until he realizes the pattern of the bell is different. It's louder and more frequent, and he jerks up.

"I don't wanna eat," Clarke mumbles, and Bellamy shakes her.

"Seriously, something's wrong."

She comes to attention instantly, and he can see her working it out, the difference in the pattern of the bells, the darkness of the morning. "Fuck."

"Yeah."

They pull on clothes and rush out; there are guards waiting at the exit to the royal hall, and they cross their spears when Bellamy and Clarke try to leave.

"What the fuck?" she demands.

"During an attack we are not allowed to let royalty out of their chambers without the approval of--"

"Fuck that," says Clarke, and Bellamy takes out the guards while she pulls up the stairs. She can handle ice and snow; it's running water that's still tricky for her.

"Sorry," Bellamy tells the guards. "Avatar business. Where are we going?"

"You should get Jasper and get in the air."

"What am I going to do in the air?"

"Be safe." He raises his eyebrows, and she flushes. "I have a _temper_ , remember? When people--when my people get hurt. I need you to not--"

He kisses her, quick and soft. "I love you too. But I'm not letting you fight without me."

"As sweet as this is, I have to say, you could have just waited thirty seconds instead of knocking out soldiers during an attack," Roan observes.

Clarke tears her eyes away from Bellamy to glare at the prince instead. "They should have just let us out."

"How dare they follow protocol. It's the Fire Nation. You should leave."

"Leave?"

"I'm sure it's not news to you that you're more valuable as the Avatar than--"

"I'm done with people dying for me," she snaps.

"You're never going to be done with that," Roan counters. But her expression makes him sigh. "If you insist on staying, both of you should come with me. I know the city and your abilities better than you do."

"City maybe, abilities no," Clarke says. "Tell us where to go and we'll take care of ourselves."

"You're an asshole, Avatar."

"I need to see what they're capable of," Clarke says, anger gone from her voice. "And they need to see what I'm capable of too. I'm the Avatar, and everyone needs to see that. Bellamy and I know what we're good at. You do your defenses, and we'll do everything we can to help. I won't let this city fall to protect me, but I won't let myself get captured or killed."

"So, victory is the only option," Roan says.

Her smile is tight. "Always."

"Then I'll explain our plan and leave you to it."

Bellamy has never been in a battle before. He's been in fights, altercations. He's gotten drunk and punched people, and he's had scuffles with soldiers since he started traveling with Clarke. He's thought about fighting the Fire Nation, but he's never had the resources that would make it anything other than suicide. This is a battle, and it's a battle they have to win, because if Octavia got killed, it would be awful, and if Clarke got killed, it would be even worse.

And if he gets killed, he doesn't know what happens to Clarke. So they're all going to live. Lincoln too. It's Bellamy's first battle, and they're going to win it. There isn't another option.

Roan lays out their standard defenses, and Clarke nods along, but Bellamy's the strategist on the team. He's the one who knows everyone's skills, how good O has gotten at waterbending, how they can use Clarke's strengths and disguise her weaknesses. He knows what he and Lincoln can do. And the worst part of knowing all that is knowing that the best place for him to be isn't with Clarke and Octavia, because he can't do as much with them as he can do with the other non-benders. It's the best use of their resources.

And Clarke won't know if he gets killed until--well, hopefully by the time she finds out, she won't murder the entire Fire Nation. It's a new thing, valuing his own life so much. But he doesn't want her to lose it like she did after she did in the air temple, not ever again. Part of him can't quite believe she would, but--he doesn't want to risk it.

He'd rather just live.

As it turns out, the battle is just kind of horribly, incomprehensibly boring for a while. The benders take the first wave of attacks, trying to disrupt the ships before they arrive. Clarke is on Jasper, dodging flaming arrows and doing what she can with ice drifts, breaking hulls and causing chaos. That part's kind of awesome, really; Bellamy loves to see her work. Except for the way they might all die. That's the downside.

But he has to give Azgeda credit; for all they don't get raided as much as the Eastern Tribes do, they're certainly no slouches in training. He thinks even the Fire Nation is surprised, and maybe they'll be distracted from hunting Clarke when they realize not everyone is just rolling over. That biding their time doesn't mean they're never going to fight back.

Once he's involved in the fighting, it's a blur, and it honestly takes him a few minutes to realize Clarke and Octavia have joined him and Lincoln, that they're all fighting as a unit.

"I thought you were with the benders," he tells Clarke.

"We were. I think we're better here."

"I thought I was making the plans."

"They're coming after me," Clarke says. "Specifically. The benders are better at range, keeping them off our backs. I'm a decoy."

"You know, if you want to not lose it when I get hurt, it's better if you don't know if I get hurt," he points out.

"It's worse not knowing," she says. "Besides, if I just lose it enough to get good at waterbending, that wouldn't be the worst thing, right?"

"I'll take your word for it. You're the Avatar, you know how this shit works."

"I wish," she mutters.

He does like fighting with her on his side more, though. He likes knowing exactly where she is and what she's doing, and it's strange how well they work together. Not that he doesn't work well with Octavia and Lincoln, but there's something easy and effortless about working with Clarke, an instinctive understanding of what she needs and how he can help her, and she seems to have the same for him. 

He'd still rather just not fight, but if he's going to fight, he wants Clarke by his side.

It would be an overstatement to say he's feeling good about the whole thing; Lincoln got a hit to the shoulder, but nothing bad enough he even had to stop fighting. They're getting tired, but it seems to be going well.

And then the second wave of them shows up, three more ships, and their first volley of attacks gets him in the temple.

He has just enough consciousness and presence of mind to say, "Don't do anything stupid," to Clarke, and then everything goes dark, and all he can do is hope that she doesn't.

*

Clarke's asleep next to him when he wakes up, which he assumes is a good sign. There's a bandage on his forehead, but he doesn't feel too injured. They're in her room, which is probably a good sign too. Whatever happened, no one tried to say he couldn't stay here because he's not a bender. Plus, it didn't get destroyed. She didn't lose her temper so badly _everything_ got destroyed. And she didn't run away to wrap herself up in ice and driftwood.

So it went well, obviously.

He lets his fingers trace her features, checking to make sure she's not hurt. She sighs and snuggles closer, sounding content and not at all like a super-powerful chosen one who accidentally destroyed an army because he got knocked out.

Of course, she is asleep. So maybe she's just having a nice dream.

He disentangles himself carefully, breathes easier when she doesn't wake up. 

When he goes out into the hallway, he finds Octavia, Lincoln, and Gina sitting on the floor, playing something with a deck of cards, so he stops feeling anxious about their being left alone and possibly being the only people left alive in Azgeda. That's a plus.

O jumps to her feet, and he holds up his finger to his mouth, jerking his head back to the room. O bends the door back up before she says anything, like he hoped she would. Mostly, he likes Azgeda fine, but he misses solid wooden doors, honestly. Ice and animal hides just don't do it for him.

"What happened?" he asks.

"The Avatar State," Gina says. "I've never seen it before, but I've read about it."

He remembers the stories too, hearing about the power avatars can access, all the power that's been passed down through generations. That's what they use to perform great deeds.

"My girlfriend is so cool," he says. "Is she--what happened to the Fire Nation?"

"She swept the second wave of boats away. The survivors who were still here surrendered. My mother is planning to use them for hostage exchange or allow them to join our army. The Avatar was insistent about keeping as many alive as possible."

"And is your mother really going to let them live after we leave?"

Gina really thinks it over, which is both comforting and really, really worrying. "I think she will," she finally decides. "She'll let them pledge to us or die, and--that's the best the Avatar can ask for, I think. It's a war. We can't just let enemy combatants go."

"Yeah, I know," he says. "I doubt she was asking you to."

"No. But you're right, she had to convince my mother that they wouldn't mind serving us over death. There is of course some concern over sabotage, but--she still thinks it's worth the risk."

"Your brother okay?"

"He's fine. Dealing with the prisoners." She smiles. "The losses weren't nearly as many as there would have been without you. On both sides"

"There wouldn't have been an attack without us," Clarke says. He didn't hear her take the door down, but the warmth of her against his side is appreciated. He puts his arm around her, presses his lips to her hair. She's warm and real and his; it's the best.

"There would have been sooner or later," Gina says. 

"That's why we need you," Bellamy adds. "War's coming everywhere, Clarke."

"It's coming where I am first," she says. She worries her lip, looks up at him. "We need to be somewhere else."

"You need to learn waterbending."

"Octavia can teach her." They all startle at the arrival of Prince Roan, and he gives them a tight smile. "The Avatar is right. You all should leave."

"Don't tell me the queen is pissed," O says, and Bellamy worries for a wild second that she thinks she hasn't fought enough yet today, and she actually wants to kick Roan's ass too. "That second wave would have wiped you out if Clarke wasn't here."

"I agree. Which is why I'm telling you to go, if you're well enough. You're good enough to teach the Avatar yourself, and my mother's seen exactly how powerful she is. I don't think she'd let you leave without a fight, not if she believes you could be persuaded to stay. So you should go, now, while she's busy with other things."

"Your mother doesn't really understand how to show gratitude, does she?" Bellamy grumbles.

"Not at all," says Roan. "Don't tell me you're surprised."

He rubs his face, but of course he's right. Clarke took out a second wave of ships all on her own, and that's the kind of power anyone would want to keep, if they could.

And Queen Nia couldn't, none of them would let her. But it would be easier to avoid the issue all together.

"Where's Jasper?" he asks.

"Just outside," says Gina. "We brought him over."

"Won't the queen be upset with you?" Lincoln asks.

Roan shrugs. "I think it's better to be on good terms with the Avatar than with my mother. I'm never on very good terms with my mother for long. And you seem like the type to hold a grudge."

Clarke's mouth tugs up in half a smile. "I might be, yes. But--thank you. For everything."

"As I said, my only goal is for you to leave before we can get on bad terms."

"Then we'd better go right away," Clarke says, and they clasp arms. 

The goodbyes are quick, and then they're back on the bison, taking off in the opposite direction that Clarke swept the Fire Nation ships. There could be more of them around, but--they don't often take to the air. Bison might not be the fastest way to travel, but it's harder to track than most. And the Fire Nation will probably expect them to lick their wounds for longer.

He's not surprised when Clarke curls back up with him, eyes half-closed; she looked exhausted.

"Did you lose control?" he asks, voice soft.

"No. Not completely. And it wasn't--it wasn't revenge. It wouldn't have been. It wasn't the same. But they were attacking us. I just--that's not the kind of Avatar I want to be. So I wasn't."

"You did good, Clarke."

"So did you. You're not bad at this, you know."

He kisses her forehead. "Thanks. Means the world to me."

"I'm serious. I know--you belong here, Bellamy. I don't know what I'd be doing without you."

"Definitely rotting in some Fire Nation jail."

She thumps her forehead against his shoulder gently. "Fine, I get it. You can't take a compliment. I'm going to keep giving them to you anyway."

"If you insist."

"I do. Stop being a dick and tell me where to take the bison."

"However long he can go, and then we rest when we hit an island."

"I meant, you know. Waterbending's set. We need a new plan. Somewhere in the Fire Nation, maybe, where we can--"

He rests his head against her hair. "Clarke?"

"Yeah?"

He breathes out, and everything seems possible, in that moment. She's the Avatar, and they've got a waterbender, and an Earth Kingdom warrior, and--him. He's good in a fight and better at planning a fight, and he knows how to back Clarke up like no one else does.

"Can we figure this out later?" he asks. "It was a fucking long day."

Her laugh is soft and easy, and her hand finds his to squeeze it. "Yeah. Whenever you're ready."

They're a team. They're a good team. They've got this. They're going to save the world.

Tomorrow.


End file.
